Cheese! The Polls End Today!

Okay, first let me just remind you…the contest ends in like 11 hours (and may I say some smoked loin is at stake folks) so get voting. Go visit these posts and then please come back and vote!

http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html

http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.



So coming up soon you will see a piece of flat iron steak that I stuffed with ricotta…that I made. Yep you heard me. Made it! Joel and I took a cheese making class and it was super. We learned out to make a farmers cheese, mozzarella and a ricotta. I was amazed at how easy it can be. Sadly I didn’t need anything to encourage me to eat MORE cheese, but alas… a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

River City Supper Club Strikes Again

Saturday was another installment of the River City Supper Club and Joel and I hosted. We decided to do Tapas. We lucked out and it was a great evening to eat outdoors which always makes me happy.




Starters

Serrano ham, Rosy Goat, Olives

Dinner

Quince paste crackers with bacon and goat cheese, Paella Croquets, Ceviche, Tuna Empanadas with goat cheese and capers, Stuffed Anaheim’s, Pinchitos Morunos (small spicy Moorish kebabs), Ensaladilla Rusa (Spanish potato salad).

Dessert

Pan de Calatrava





For the most part everything came out well. The nice thing is we were able to make most things either the day before or before everyone got there then put in the oven to keep warm. This allowed us to actually enjoy our guests. Sadly, neither I nor Joel thought to cover the Kebabs and since they were the last course, they were a bit dried out by then. The flavor was still okay… but a little more jerky that succulent! Oh well, a lessoned learned.

It was another evening with lost time. We had messy kitchen as clear evidence that a good time was had by all. Oddly I love a messy kitchen at the end of a great evening… it gives me time to clean it and digest the evening. Saturday, however it was about 1 a.m. and the kids would be up in 5 hours...so you think we cleaned it up before bed??





Nahhh, this would wait until morning. There would be plenty of time to relive the evning tomorrow!


Please remember to vote! Voting ends Friday!

http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html

http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.


http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.

Apologies Poll's Are Up!

First, the poll is up so please go to the following blogs and then come back and vote for your favorite dish and also for the evening you most would have liked to have been a part of.

http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html

http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.


Also, I want to let everyone know I am either having problems with my site or with my computer. I keep getting a run error and the page will shut down. It has made posting really hard and visiting other blogger sites (issue is only in blogger)very hard. So that said, can you please e-mail me and let me know if you are having an issue with blogger or my site to help me pinpoint the issue!!

Contest Ends Tomorrow

Just a reminder that you have to get your entry to me by midnight tomorrow. I will put up the poll for voting after that! For more information see this post http://mommygourmet.blogspot.com/2009/04/contests-and-sage-butter-agnolotti.html

Right now there is just two entry's so come on guys!!!!

Trader Joes Pizza Dough

Okay I have been reading and here about this pre-prepared pizza dough for a while now and I was at Trader Joes the other day and decided to get some. I am going to try it again, but at first blush I didn’t love it. I like mine better. The big problem I had is I cooked it far longer then the recipe called for (and for as long as my toppings could hold out) but it was still doughy especially in the middle, and that was flat out soggy (if you look at the picture close enough you can see how it feel apart when I took it off the pizza stone). However, you can’t beat the ease and the flavor was fine. I think next time I will just  bake a bit then add toppings and continue…. We will see.

I am not giving you a recipe for this because… well it was a pizza. The sauce was a cilantro pesto (just make your regular pesto recipe but use cilantro. Also I sometimes substitute almonds for the pine nuts or walnuts but any are fine), then I added onion, shrimp and some fresh basil and of course cheese!! I think next time I would skip the basil (not bad, didn't add anything since the cilantro took center stage) but add feta…yummy.

**Update:  Since this post a friend turned me on to the perforated pizza pan.  I still recommend pre-baking the crust prior to adding toppings, but the pan was a game changer!


Remember 5 more days until you have to have your entry's to me for the contest!! Go over and see Chef E's and Kristen's post. Chef E http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html and Kristen http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.

Peach Martini Comeback

My peach martini (actually my Dad’s) got selected by the Lisa over at the Lunch Box Project. The above artwork is her take on my martini. If you don’t know what that is, go check out her cool blog at http://lunchboxproject.blogspot.comIt is such a cool and unique food blog and I am psyched my little martini made its way on it.

To add to the greatness of this, she is offering the chance for my readers to buy it at a reduced price (just $45) for the next two months. If you are interested go to her site and let her know, heck just go to her site at http://lunchboxproject.blogspot.com or you can contact her directly at (lisaorgler@huxcomm.net). Her artwork is AMAZING and I feel so lucky she let me be a part of it all.

The contest is just starting to heat up! We have our first two entry’s. The first is from Chef E http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html and the next from Kristen http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html. You have to go check them out, not only did they make the best dishes they had the best time, and lets face it that is what it was about! So go check them out and remember you have until the 25th and then the polls go up!

Seven Radom Things

Kristen over at Whatcha-Eatin http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/ awarded me with the Preemio Blogger Award. Sadly she didn't know what she was getting herself into. With this award I am supposed to share 7 random thing about myself you might not already know.



1) I greatly fear you will find my answers boring
2) I got my degree in social work, because I wanted to save the world (not always so sure now... kidding...sort of??)
3) I was born in Ankara, Turkey
4) I STILL don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, but I still believe it will be something cool??
5) I feel younger than I am… by quite a bit.
6) My birthday falls on mothers day this year.
7) I am slightly obsessed with my children’s tushies.

So, my job is to pass this on to some folks. This was so hard because every one of you that I would love to know more about (I am nosy by nature… hey wasn‘t that a 80's song?). Sigh. However I am going to keep it to just 5 of you. Egad.

Tribeca Yummy Mummy. http://tribecayummymummy-cate.blogspot.com/
Holler at Tinned Tomatoes http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/.
Jamie and Jen over ate Jamie and Jen Dish http://jjdishitout.blogspot.com/.
Donna at My Tasty Treasures http://mytastytreasures.blogspot.com/
Zerrin at Give Recipe http://www.giverecipe.com/

Also, don't forget about the contest. You can send your entries whenever, but they ahve to be in by midnight on the 25th of May. See this post for details http://mommygourmet.blogspot.com/2009/04/contests-and-sage-butter-agnolotti.html

Contests and Sage Butter Agnolotti

So let me start with the food. As part of being a featured publisher with Foodbuzz, periodically they send us stuff to try. This time it was a package of Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti. I wanted to keep the “sauce” simple so I could actually taste the pasta, and I am glad I did. It was wonderful but a bit delicate and I think its wonderfulness would get lost in a heavy sauce. Just this girls opinion.

2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
4 torn sage leaves
½ clove garlic grated
Parmesan
1 package of Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti


Put butter an olive oil in a pan. Once your butter begins to bubble add garlic and sage leaves and take off heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Toss with Agnolotti and parmesan.

So on to the contest. Luckily, a ton of you are interested. For this I am grateful and excited.

I try not to share too much on the blog. Mostly because you are here for the food, not antidotes of my sons current inch worm obsession or my little girls cute bottom. However, this is one that is shaping the contest so bare with me.

We all have them, friends we adore but just don’t see enough. Friends that we roar with when we see each other and we just think the world of. Life happens though. It does, for better or worse… it does. Joel and I have a ton of friends we think of all the time but, sadly do not call nearly enough to come over for drinks or dinner.

This new year I vowed to have one particular couple we are friends with over more. That was my one and only New Year resolution. So not wasting any time Joel and I started planning a dinner party mid-January. Ironically said couple called the very night we were planning to call to extend our invitation. Sadly it was to let us know that one had just been diagnosed with cancer. I just found out today, they have about a week left to live. We never had the dinner party.

Life happens.

So my caveat to this contest is send me your entries, send me your pictures, however, I want you to call a friend and have them over to enjoy your delicious creations. After all isn’t that what makes food so great, the sharing of it? So get on the phone and call someone you love (or at least someone you like a little). The deadline for your entry is May 25th to give everyone time.

The recipe can be anything from a drink to an appetizer, entrée to dessert. I want at least one picture. I would love a picture of you enjoying said recipe with your friend/ person you at least like a little, but that is not necessary. What is necessary is tell us about your evening. Don’t just submit a recipe, submit a post about how the evening went. I am going to have folks vote for their favorite recipe and for the evening they would have most liked to have joined in on.

Happy Anniversary

Sadly I had planned a week of bells and whistles for the week of my anniversary and alas, it did not happen. Today it has been one year. Blogging has been a life line for me into grown up land, on days I felt like I might loose my mind in kid land. So thanks for all the support.

What I was thinking about was doing is a contest. Everyone enters their favorite summertime recipe and whoever gets the most votes wins….something (really haven’t gotten that far, but have some ideas). So anyone that is interested, let me know by commenting in this post and I will be contacting you with the details.

Also, over the next week all my followers (and anyone who joins this week) will be entered to win a prize (that I will announce as soon as I get my ducks in a row and figure out what it is!!)

Thanks for making this such a great year and helping me retain my sanity.


Love,

Vanessa

A.K.A Mommy Gourmet