Posts from — February 2012

This is what your life looks like when you are looking through puffy watery eyes.

All blurry and miserable. Puffs and NyQuil, that is what got me through a full week of a massive head and chest cold.  I did my very best to keep it to myself and not pass it along to Dave. I slept in another room every night and washed my hands like a criminal trying to wash away the proof. It didn’t work. I’m over it and he has it in full force.

Luckily for him, I know how to make chicken soup! Stat! Quick, easy, tasty, cold-curing chicken soup.  And just in case the bug travels from this keyboard, through the internet, and onto you… you can make it too.  Get yourself to Costco, stock up on Puffs and NyQuil, and pick up one of their huge-breasted five-dollar rotisserie chickens.

Seriously, these are huge chickens with the breast meat weighing in at more than the entire amount of meat you’d get from a grocery store chicken! One and a third pounds of breast meat in the case of this particular bird!

I was actually going to title this post – “Big Breasts”, but considering all the spam I already get (the post that gets the most spam is titled “Manly Man Salad”) … yeah, I just don’t want to attract any more of that sort of attention!

So, back to the soup. Put in any vegetables you like or have on hand. I can’t stand cooked carrots, but Dave loves them, and since this soup IS for him – in went the carrots. I also had leftover sliced potatoes and a roasted poblano pepper – in they went. I have previously spoken of my affection for the under-rated and overlooked broccoli stems, they are in there. You get the point, whatever suits you and your family’s taste – put it in.

As for the chicken itself, I put in mostly dark meat and save those big breasts for sandwiches and such, you do as you please.  See – there is nearly a pound of dark meat for the soup.

After you pull off all the meat, you’ll use the chicken carcass to enrich a box of purchased chicken broth. You will be on your way to feeling at least 90% better in no time.

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My technical issues have been resolved. My lovely webmasters have “increased my quota” – whatever that is. What it means to me is that I can get back to blogging and posting photos to go along with my recipes. Thank you, webmasters, you are the best!

I am going to be completely honest and straightforward with you about this recipe… it is NOT “easy-breezy”.  In fact, it’s a big pain in the backside.  Kinda makes you want to tackle it, doesn’t it?

No?!? Come on, a challenge is a good thing!  The cookie dough is the problem. Well not a problem exactly, it is just a tad soft and not exactly easy to work with. But, I think it’s worth it. These are tasty little treats and besides, all the pictures I am providing you with demonstrating the caramel-making process will make it all worth it! Now Keep Reading!

The cookie sandwiches were the dessert for the wedding shower cooking class I taught last weekend, and the same ingredients served as the makings for Valentine’s tart for my sweetheart.

To transform the cookie recipe into a tart; spray a tart pan with Pam, line it with the rolled-out cookie dough, refrigerate for 15 minutes, and then bake the crust for 10 minutes at 325 degrees. Let it cool, and fill it with the caramel. Make some ganache, top the tart with the warm ganache and refrigerate until firm. Finally, sprinkle the top with a little sea salt, just before serving.  The tart is a whole lot easier than rolling and cutting out all those cookies! But cookies are what I first made, so a cookie recipe is what I have for you today.

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My webpage seems to need a little technique support, so while that is occurring, instead of the planned post for today, I am going to share with you this beautiful Arizona Valentine’s day sunset that I captured last night.

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Happy Valentine’s Day! And Happy Centennial to my Native State – Arizona – 100 Years Young today!

Yes, Arizona, “The Grand Canyon State”, “The Valentine State”, and “The Baby State” turns 100 today!  The “Baby State” because Arizona was the last state of the contiguous United States to join the Union, on February 14, 1912. To see a wonderful slideshow of our beautiful state, GO TO THIS LINK, and enjoy. That is from where I snatched all of the Arizona pictures I have here today.  As a special birthday bonus, there’s a little Arizona quiz and a fun name game at the end of the post – just in case you want to play along.

Oh, and I have a fruity salsa recipe to go along with the fruity guac from yesterday too.

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On Saturday night I taught a cooking class and served dinner at a wedding shower for Leah, the beautiful bride-to-be.  This is the darling and super creative invite that Jenny, Leah’s sister-in-law, sent out… attached to a real cutting board with a real whisk at the top ~ too cute! (and it was even cuter before I marked out the personal info…)

The guacamole I served reminds me of one of my favorite restaurants in Phoenix, Barrio Cafe, where Chef Silvana Salcido Esparaza’s guacamole is made table-side and is the first place I ever saw pomegranate arils added. Remember, they aren’t called pomegranate seeds. The correct name is arils. If you don’t remember, you can go back to THIS, my 100th post, where I tell you all about it (and even how to freeze the arils). Today marks my 834th post. We’ve come a long way baby!

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I have been prepping, chopping, dicing, and packing up like a crazy mad woman for a wedding shower cooking class that I am conducting for 24 lovely ladies later today. During a little rest time, yesterday, I stumbled upon this on Chow Bella…

… while I was actually looking for this…

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This quick, easy, and delish recipe comes from my Illinois BFF, Jennifer.  My girl knows how to throw together a fabulous dinner like no one else! With three busy sons, who run her ragged, she is the master. Love you, Jenni-Jen! xoxo

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I’ve shared with you my newfound love of Pinterest. That is where I found the idea for these adorable pearl cherry tomato hearts. If you and your loved one are going out for Valentine’s and leaving the kids at home, what a wonderful salad this would be to serve to your beloved children.  Or… just as a casual any night of the week with an extra special loving touch.

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Oh the things I would have bought this past Sunday at the Alameda Point Antiques Faire … IF only I had a big truck to drive it all home in! But, alas, I had but one suitcase – and a dinky carry-on at that. That sort of size limit turns you into a very discerning buyer!  Here is what I came home with…

A couple of lovely vintage skeleton keys.

A pair of outboard motor cuff links. The one on the left still has the little propeller that spins  The cost of these cuties? A whopping $1.00!  They are to be a future gift for a very good friend with a motorboat.

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I really don’t need an excuse to visit my daughter, Marissa, in San Francisco. I’d be happy to go anytime and as often as she’d have me.

But this visit was scheduled around the once monthly Alameda Point Antiques Faire held across the bay and over the Oakland-Bay Bridge on Navy Way in Alameda.  The first Sunday of each month brings more than 800 vendors and over 10,000 shoppers to the huge sale.  I first learned of the Faire through my favorite blog, Vignette Design. Interior designer and blogger extraordinaire, Delores, loves the Faire and has written of it often. Her favorite vendor is Big Daddy’s Antiques, so naturally that would be our first stop.

crated demijohn, industrial cart, and so much more!

I was beside myself with anticipation when we arrived at about 7:30 AM (the gates open at 6:00).  We made a beeline for the Big Daddy booths in aisles J & K. (the aisles run from A – Z).  I was delighted by every item in the Big Daddy booth, but also heartsick that there was not even one thing that was small enough to fit in my suitcase. The photo above and the next 7 photos were taken in the Big Daddy booths.

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