The other weekend we had Luke's cousin and her husband over for dinner.  They are very rarely in town so we were SO excited when they were actually available at the last minute for dinner.
All you need for a successful summer soirée is food, a fun cocktail, a bright tablecloth, and pretty flowers.

I made shrimp and grits, yummy blackberry spritzer cocktails and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  I got to use new bowls and glasses I found at thrift stores in Chicago.  I love having an occasion to use my dishes!

You won't find any peppers in my shrimp and grits.  You WILL find extra bacon, mushrooms, and cheesy grits though :)

 This flower arrangement is one of my favorites.  Luke brought me home these cute little flowers and I didn't want to just put them in a vase.  A. you wouldn't be able to talk to the person across the table from you and B. I wanted to do something more fun! So I took a Revere bowl (silver bowl) and put a grid of masking tape inside of it.  I then stuck 2 or three stems into each grid (they stood up that way) until the whole bowl was filled up.  No mess, no oasis needed.  It was awesome! They also lasted for a good week after I made it.

For the drinks, I made a blackberry simple syrup (about a cup), poured it in a pitcher with a bottle of processo then added fresh thyme.  It was very refreshing and summery! Also, look at my pretty glass!

We finished with classic strawberry shortcake.  A homemade biscuit, fresh whipped cream, and sweet strawberries.  Voila!

It was such a wonderful dinner with amazing friends.  We are so lucky to have family that we can also call friends.  I think that is a rare and special thing to have.  :)

Recipe: Mojo Chicken

We had the yummiest dinner last night!  I am not very good at cooking things outside my comfort zone, or my "go to" recipes but this one looked so good I couldn't resist.

Here's the recipe from Purdue:
Ingredients
1 package chicken breasts
1 (20-ounce) bottle mojo criollo citrus marinade (we used a garlic lime)
1 1/4 teaspoons adobo seasoning
8 rings of fresh pineapple, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper, optional
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lime juice, about 1/2 of a lime
1/4 teaspoon salt

Steps
- put chicken and marinade in plastic bag, set in refridgerator for 1-2 hours to marinade
- remove from marinade, sprinkle with adobo seasoning and grill chicken breasts
- Finely chop remaining ingredients for the salsa
- let the chicken rest for a couple minutes
- serve over rice

Here is how ours turned out tonight! It was very fresh.  PS, I forgot the tomatoes, it was a long day...

Buon Appetito!

Easy Weeknight Dinner: Salmon Quesadilla

In need of a super easy weeknight dinner?  Last night, I made Luke's dad's recipe for salmon quesadillas and they were delicious!  I will admit, the title sounded a bit strange and I was a little nervous to try it. But, like everything else Louis makes, it was packed with super delicious flavor.  This is definitely being added to our "crap, what should I make for dinner" box. 

Ingredients:
2 oz goat cheese
1 Tbs fresh horseradish
1 Tbs sour cream
1 Tbs + 1 tsp chopped fresh dill
white pepper to taste
1 chipotle pepper 
3 Tbs olive oil
capers
1 lemon
1 package smoked salmon
flour tortillas

-Start by whipping together (with a wooden spoon) the goat cheese, horseradish, south cream, Tbs of dill, and chopped chipotle pepper in a bowl until airy. Set aside

-Heat the oil in a pan and fry the tortilla  on both sides.  Drain on paper towels.

-  spread about 2 Tbs of the sauce on each tortilla, add some capers on top, then layer the salmon.  Sprinkle some fresh dill and a little lemon juice over the top and, voila! You have dinner!

Ombre Red Velvet Cake

This weekend was my friend, Margaret's, birthday.  She and her fiancé hosted a fabulous fiesta dinner party and we were in charge of bring the birthday cake!  I found a picture of an ombre cake a couple weeks ago on Pinterest and was waiting for a time to get to make it! What a better reason than a birthday cake?!

First, I baked a red velvet cake using this recipe. I then wrapped the two layers in plastic wrap and froze them overnight.  I froze it overnight because I only had time to make the cake one night and then to frost it the night of the party.

First, make the cream cheese icing.  I used this recipe:

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
-1 - 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
-1 - 8 ounce tub of Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
-3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1 cup powdered sugar
In your food processor, or with a hand mixer, process the cream cheese and mascarpone cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar and process until smooth. Transfer this mixture to a large mixing bowl.
Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. With a large spatula, gently but quickly fold a little of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream, in two stages. If the frosting is not thick enough to spread, cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour, or until it is firm enough to spread.

 I unwrapped the layers, put a piece of wax paper on the cake stand and put the layers together with a dollop of white icing in between.  

 I then split the icing into 3 bowls so I could dye them the colors for my ombre. 

 I started slowly with adding the color and just saw what happens.  Remember you can always add more but you can't take it away! 

 I then started with the darkest layer on top.

 I spread it out leaving a little bit hanging over the edge so it can blend with the middle color. 

 I then took the lightest color and put it around the bottom layer.

 I then took the middle color and slowly blended it in between the other colors.  Slow is better because if you over blend, you can't go backwards! 

 I then took a long spatula dipped in hot water and traced around the cake to clean it up.  This really made a huge difference so if you're at the step before and you're not super happy with it yet, I would stop before you over blend and clean it up.  

 Then take the wax paper out from below it

 and put sprinkles on it!

 Here is the lovely birthday girl about to blow out her candle. *we couldn't find the candles we bought so we used a tea light lol.  **Margaret found the candles after we left.  Murphy's Law....

 Voila! 

New Years Day Soup

About 3 years ago my mom and I were on a soup kick and decided to make up some new recipes.  On New Years day we created a soup concoction that is absolutely awesome for a snowy day like today.  It has since been named New Years Day Soup (only because of its birthday) and we now have it every 1st of the year- as well as collards, black eyed peas and stewed tomatoes, of course!

Here is the recipe:

For the stock:
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 box low sodium chicken broth
salt and pepper
olive oil

For the soup: 
4 russet potatoes, diced (bite sized) I also threw in a sweet potato in this one because I had it
2 turnips, diced (bite sized)
2 rutabagas, diced (bite sized)
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

For the croutons:
one loaf crusty french bread
Salt
Thyme
olive oil

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat.  Liberally rub the chicken breast with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Brown in the pot until a nice crust forms on both sides of the breast; remove from pot and set aside.  Drizzle pot with another tbsp of olive oil and add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and thyme, and cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken breasts back to the pot, add chicken stock.  If the stock doesn't cover the chicken, add water until it does.  Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove the chicken and set aside to cool. Add the potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, tomatoes, thyme and kale. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are done. shred the chicken and add it back to the pot. Then add the beans.  Cook for another 5 minutes.

For the croutons: cut the bread into crouton sized pieces, toss in olive oil, salt, and thyme.  Cook at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until the are crispy.

to serve, top with croutons, a drizzle of olive oil, and shaved parm and enjoy!

Recipe: Rosé Poached Pears

These poached pears turned out so incredibly well I just had to share the recipe with you.  This was  the first time I made poached pears and it was super simple!  

I started with a recipe I found from Giada De Laurentiis and modified it slightly. I used a rose wine instead of the moscato suggested sthat they would turn a pretty pink and also to cut down on the sweetness. 

First, buy pears!  They don't need to be ripe, just pretty. 

Peel the pears

Put them into the wine concoction (ingredients below) and let them simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until you can stick a fork in them easily. Keep and eye on them and turn every now and then.

Remove from the poaching sauce and let the pears cool while the sauce reduces for another 20 minutes or so.  Then serve in a pretty bowl with vanilla bean ice cream.  And don't forget to pour some of the reduced sauce on top of it at the very last minute!

buon appetito!

Sauce:

1 bottle of rosé wine
1 cup simple syrup (1 cup water and 1 cup sugar boiled down for about 10 minutes)
a couple shakes of cinnamon
a spoonful of honey
1, 3/4 inch piece of fresh ginger, pealed
1/2 spoonful of vanilla extract 

And that's it!  How easy is that? 

Let me know in the comments below if you try them and how they turn out!  I'd love to hear what other improvements you make to the recipe.