If you live in Arizona, and you don’t already follow Chow Bella, you really should! Doing so is the best way to stay up to the minute on all food-related happenings. You can CLICK HERE to go to their web page. Or CLICK HERE to go to their page on Facebook and then get updates by “liking” them. Or you can always follow Chow Bella on Twitter.  If you’re saying to yourself, “Why should I trust you and bother to do any one of those things?”  Well, if you’re going to be that way… here is just one fun reason why… from Chow Bella today…

Nine Awesome Ways to Get Candy Corn-ifed for Fall

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Except for the very discouraging fact that our AZ Diamondbacks dropped the first two games of the National League Division Series and our AZ Cardinals lost their third (3rd!!!!) game in a row – we had a great weekend. The third game in a row!!! Ouch!

On Saturday night, Dave and I dined at our friends, Mario and Ginger Vincitorio’s, a restaurant in Tempe… called VinciTorio’s Restaurant.  The evening was extra special because we went with my dear friend, Tram Mai, and her adorable husband Steve.

Not only is Tram the host of EVB Live on NBC channel 12, but she and Steve own Press Coffee Roasters, with locations at CityNorth and the Scottsdale Quarter… and another opening at Sky Harbor airport in spring 2012!

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I was searching for something sweet and quick to put together today for not only this post but to bring along to a lunch date I have this afternoon. I’m meeting up with my kids’ 1st grade teacher and her daughter and two granddaughters. We’ve stayed in touch all these years later, thanks in part to Facebook and this blog. Mrs. Tunheim (Ginger, to me) was both Marissa and Connor’s favorite teacher. In fact, Connor had her three times; 1st grade, 3rd grade, and during high school he went back and was a teacher’s aide in her class for a semester… yup we all love Mrs. T! Her beautiful daughter, Kim, assisted me one summer of cooking classes back when she was a single college girl.  Kim is now married with two adorable little girls of her own, so I’m bringing along these sweets to share with them.

I also want to take this opportunity to extend exuberant, hearty, and heartfelt congratulations to my friend and colleague, Gwen Walters, and her wonderful Pen & Fork, for winning Best Food Blog 2011 award given by Phoenix New Times!  Yay Gwen!!!  You can always check out Pen & Fork by just clicking on the link over there on the right side of this very page… it is AWESOME!

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If you have ever eaten at Chelsea’s Kitchen, here in Phoenix, then you have most likely enjoyed or watched someone else enjoy the out-of-this-world Brussels sprout salad.  The only thing I can’t get over is the price… $14 for a salad seems a tad pricey. Luckily this delicious salad is easy to make at home for just pennies on the restaurant dollar.

And this mustard vinaigrette… one of the best and most versatile vinaigrettes you will ever make. So although you don’t use even half of it for this salad, you are going to want to use it on salads from here on out!

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For the first time in months, the high temperature has been under 100 degrees. The high 90’s may not seem like much a of reprieve to most people, but for those of us in the Valley of Sun, it’s a huge difference. It is most likely more of  a break mentally, but it makes us happy and gives us hope that fall is finally on its way!

So, duck is not traditionally thought of as a warm weather dish, but it was surprising refreshing, even on a 96 degree day. It was inspired by a recipe I’d seen by Tyler Florence, one of my favorite celebrity chefs.

I saved the water used for steaming the duck, poured it into a large glass measuring cup and chilled it. Then I removed the top layer of fat and used the water underneath to boil jasmine rice as an accompaniment for the duck. Finally, I seasoned the rice with salt and a few dashes of Chinese five-spice. 

Although this recipe takes about 2 hours to cook, the actual hands-on time is less than 10 to 15 minutes.

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Along with eight other good citizens, I made it through our 8-day trial and now I can tell you all about it.

The nine of us were culled from a pool of 45 potential jurors. I have to say, the lawyers and the judge did a commendable job of weeding us out, they managed to get nine sane, reasonable, and intelligent people. Trust me, there were some people I saw in the larger group who were far removed from sanity and intelligence!

As I mentioned back on August 31st, I had a suspicion that there were nine of us, instead of the usual eight, because of me. And then again, on September 3rd, I told you how I had been called into the judge’s chambers… well now I can tell you the whole story.

On that first selection day, after going through the potential juror questionnaire with all 45 of us, the judge said that if any of us felt the need to add something, in private, to raise our hands. My hand flew up, I was hoping for this opportunity. This was a civil case, not criminal, like many of you may have assumed.

A case of malpractice where a woman and her husband were suing her OB/GYN. Now I know that most physicians take out medical malpractice insurance to protect them from financial claims, but I wasn’t aware that these cases could be taken to court where healthcare professionals could be sent to prison! I knew this was going to be a very serious case, but not only because of the nature of the claim. From the very moment we walked into the courtroom and learned what the case was about, I knew I may have a problem. And the reason I wanted to speak of it in private was because I didn’t want to share my issue with 44 complete strangers. And some of them were very strange!

So why don’t I mind sharing it with you? You know me, and you care about me, and you’re not strange at all! Additionally, it was so appalling to watch these people try to squirm their way out of service, that I did not want anyone to perceive that that was what I was trying to do. I’m so glad that these people decided to contact a malpractice attorney, no one should feel afraid to bring justice to people who have been affected by a medical issue that has caused them problems. I didn’t have a problem serving. I mean for as much as I may have complained about it here, I would certainly want competent people there for me, if I was ever in need. Anything to do with malpractice engages the attention of someone, especially if it extends to pediatric malpractice – luckily this case didn’t but I’ve heard it happens! Anyway seriously, it’s all a lot of information to take in but it is very interesting after all. I recommend you find out more here so you can educate yourself on the issue – it’s worth knowing about.

I completely respect and appreciate the process and I am grateful, especially on this poignant weekend, that I live in a country where you are judged by a jury of your peers and have an opportunity to prove your innocence! ….. I just didn’t want to pass out while doing my duty.

You see, I have an extreme and uncontrollable physical reaction to the visual and especially verbal descriptions of the inner workings of the human anatomy. I really don’t know how else to describe it other than that. Possibly a few actual examples of my life experience will show you just how vulnerable I am. Here we go…

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This is my heads up to you, my faithful followers. My streak of 70 consecutive days of blog posts may about to be coming to an end. Bet you didn’t even know I had a streak going, but look back at the calendars over there on the right, and you’ll see that I did, I mean I do. In fact, I’ve only missed 3 days out of the past 101 days of blog posts. There is a valid reason that the streak is about to be broken…

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Last night’s birthday party dinner for Terrie was a blast. Anytime the Murriettas gets together, nothing less is expected. Please indulge me and I shall share my history with this fantastic family.

Terrie and I have known each other since our grade school days at Navajo Elementary, right here in Scottsdale. We are both native Arizonans. We lived on the border between two high schools, Scottsdale High and Saguaro High. Terrie and her younger sister, Peggy, went to Scottsdale High. Terrie’s three older brothers, Vince, Mark, and John, went to Saguaro, as did I. After Navajo, Terrie and I lost touch and I only knew of her brothers as the “big men – the jocks” on campus.

Fast forward 12 years to 1991. Dave and I are in our second house and have just had our second child, Connor. We live in a cul-de-sac and our backyard fence curves around and backs up to 5 different neighbors. One day, I meet one of those neighbors, Peggy DeBolske. She also has two little ones of her own at the time, Joey and Samantha (Natalie and Steven come along 2 and 4 years later). We become fast friends and soon learn that we are both Arizona natives. Then we discover that we both went to Navajo. I ask her maiden name… Murrietta. “Oh my gosh, is Terrie your sister? And are Mark and John your brothers?” (Her oldest brother, Vince, was long gone from Saguaro by the time I arrived.) Yes! Small World! We, of course, have been best friends ever since and it gave me the opportunity to re-connect with Terrie.

Peggy and Terrie attended my Blog 2nd Anniversary Party earlier this month and Terrie told me that all of the recipes for her birthday party were coming from this site and that Peggy was hosting the dinner party. I glared poor Peggy down and gave her hell for not asking me to help her. I had heard of quite a few places in town that also helped with various catering services so I could have definitely recommended those to Peggy. Anyway, one of my friends also suggested that it may be a good idea to hire an oyster catering service like Oysters xo so that all of the guests will have an oyster shucking experience that they may never forget. Having said that, this is the menu we had for the birthday bash.

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I am up in Flagstaff today visiting Connor and watching my friend, Larry Fitzgerald, and the team at Cardinal’s camp. It is a joy to not only see them both, but to get out of the record-breaking heat in the Valley of the Sun; 114 degrees yesterday!

It literally tried to chase me up the mountain yesterday on the drive here. I left the house at about 10:30 AM and it was 106 degrees. By 11:00, I was at 2000 feet and the temperature was climbing faster than I was; 109. When I reached the Sedona turn-off, it was 11:25 and it was 111 degrees! What was going on here -what’s a girl to do? Drive faster, that’s what I did!

I could see the building clouds and the lightning ahead, so I knew there was hope. I actually stopped focusing on the thermostat, and just like a watched pot that won’t boil if you watch it, the temps finally went down and the next time I looked it was 94. When I reached Flag at 12:20 it was a lovely 84 degrees, relief at last!

In addition, I was able to have coffee this morning with my high-school girlfriend, Darcy. She sang at our wedding, 26 years ago. Don’t you just love it when you haven’t seen a friend for a few years and you just pick up where you left off, as if you had lunch together last week? It’s the best, love you, Darcy.  OK, all that has nothing to do with our recipe today, these are just good, so make ’em!

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Here in the Southwest desert, it is prickly pear season. The prickly pear fruit (also known as tunas) are ripe for the picking; the very careful picking, that is. Be sure to wear thick leather gloves and use tongs. The most versatile way to use the fruit is to make a sauce, which can be kept for up to one week in the refrigerator or may be frozen. From there you can use the sauce to make a vinaigrette, use it in marinades, margaritas, or mojitos, to make sorbet, or add it to a BBQ sauce, and the list goes on. The fruit has a bright strawberry/kiwi/watermelon flavor and the most gorgeous crimson color.  There are two things to be careful of though – the tiny and very painful hair-like stickers (hence the need for gloves and tongs) and the pretty color itself, it stains like crazy.

Prickly pear branches (the pads) are called nopales. They are also edible, cooked, and eaten as a vegetable. I think they taste similar to green beans but with a slimy texture. Can you tell I am not a fan of the nopales?

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