Food as Art

The only way Steve will eat a vegetable is if it is raw and in a salad...so we eat lots of salads. Salads are one my favorite things to make because all of the colors are so beautiful, and the finished piece is not only appetizing to the eye, but delicious and healthy. Common ingredients in our salads are spinach, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper (any color), cucumber, kidney beans, and although not pictured here, avocado, pine nuts or walnuts, chicken, and occasionally fresh pear, apple, or strawberry slices, and sometimes boiled eggs. My favorite salad dressing is Kraft Roasted Red Pepper with Parmesan Italian dressing, but we usually go for any variety of balsamic vinagrette or italian. YUM!!!!

Tiny Caker Baker

For Christmas, Helya gave me a Cupcake cookbook with recipes so lovely, I had a hard time refraining from ripping out the pages and framing them in my living room. Choosing which cupcake to bake first was even more difficult. I narrowed it down to two based on the ingredients I already had on hand and went to work. 

I spent an entire Sunday afternoon mixing, sifting, stirring, and frosting. I usually don't enjoy baking because accuracy is key to successful results. I am the worst when it comes to precise measurements and ingredients. But I wanted to take a stab at these delightful treats because I knew it would be worth it in the end. However, my biggest initial mistake was deciding to half the recipes. I didn't really know what to do with 48 cupcakes, so I thought 24 would be more manageable and I could just half every ingredient and it would still be accurate. You tell me what's worse: too many cupcakes or dividing 1 and 5/8ths by 2? In hindsight I would have been much better off with cupcakes coming out of my wazoo. Fractions belong in hell. Well, with Steve's help, I managed to convert all of my ingredients into weird amounts like 13/15ths of a tablespoon or somewhere between 3/4 and 7/8ths of a cup. I think that may have had something to do with the outcome because in my opinion, they weren't sweet enough and were a bit dry. On the other hand, Steve ate about 20 of them all on his own so they must have been alright. 

The best part about all of this is that I tried something new and I didn't fail. I've never baked 100% from scratch, so it was an accomplishment and something I will definitely try again. Tiny cakes on deck:  Dark chocolate molten lava :)

Mocha Chocolate with chocolate whip frosting and cocoa powder

Banana Pecan with butter cream frosting

Festivities

I didn't feel as festive this year as I usually do during the holiday season. Maybe it was the 90 degree weather leading up to December, or maybe it was because I had to work on Christmas Eve. Regardless, I managed to put up my mini Christmas tree and decorate the house a bit.

We arrived in Bozeman on Christmas morning and my mom made us breakfast as soon as we walked in the door. After our tummies were filled, we opened presents, and napped, watched movies, and relaxed. My mom made a beautiful pork roast for Christmas dinner and I ate like it was my first meal in weeks.

My little brother got a Glock from Santa. Yes, a REAL Glock gun. He is so gangster. I wanted nothing to do with that gun, but Steve had something else in mind. :)


I didn't even know Steve was into guns, but ever since we got back from Montana that's all he can talk about. He's been reading gun magazines, internet articles, and has been practicing his shot at the local shooting range. Boys will be boys!

We only spent a few days in Montana, but every moment was so lovely. We ran errands downtown Bozeman in the 20 degree weather and I was stupid enough to forget my scarf, hat, and gloves. Luckily, every store you walk into has the heater blasting to about 80 degrees. My mom and I had a warm drink at the local wine bar and I had the BEST spiked coffee ever. It was regular coffee with a cute little creampot of white chocolate liquor. SO GOOD. The rest of the trip was spent playing RockBand with the family and eating - LOTS of eating :) We went to The Mint so Steve could try some Buffalo tenderloin. He absolutely loved it, which was surprising to me, because that was the first time I'd ever seen him eat steak of any kind.

I was so sad to leave, but glad we had such a nice time in icey Montana. We got home Sunday and had the whole entire week off of work to rejuvenate and enjoy the last days of 2008.

Thanks for everything Mom! We love you!

Thanksgiving Used to be Easy

This year, I cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner for 4, on my own! It was quite the challenge trying to figure out how much to make, what to make, and how to make it! Thanks to my mom for all of her patience and help...I probably called her about 500 times during the week with questions and she saved me when I nearly had a panic attack at Vons scouring the aisles for water chesnuts and Knorr Vegetable Mix. Anyway, the dinner came together perfectly and my guests were very happy.

Since Steve doesn't like very many veggie dishes, I had to be creative coming up with something to serve besides a salad. So I put together a fruit and veggie appetizer spread with fresh veggies, dip, guacamole and tortilla chips, cut up apples, pears, and raspberries, and spinach dip served with a warm baguette.

The main course was a 12 pound turkey stuffed with my mom's homemade stuffing (with apples!), garlic mashed potatoes, gravy (made by Steve's mom), cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls. We had TONS of left overs which was good because one of my favorite things of all time is warm leftover turkey sandwiches smothered in gravy.

For dessert, Steve's mom baked a homemade berry pie. I usually don't like pie, especially the crust (unless of course, the crust is made from crushed Oreos), but this crust was amazing. It tasted like cookies. So, the pie was incredible, and Steve and I were left with 3/4 of it for leftovers :)

So there you have it - little me, hosting my very first Thanksgiving Feast. I actually had a blast preparing everything and I learned a ton! Hopefully next year I can cook Thanksgiving for my family! :)

Chicken Fried Bacon

This video is a Texas restaurant owner's attempt to make the world a little more corpulent. It convinces me that Texas is the worst place to live. And I thought Arkansas food was fattening...

Go watch!

Chicken Fried Bacon

8 Foods You Should Eat Everyday

1. Spinach

2. Yogurt

3. Tomatoes

4. Carrots

5. Blueberries

6. Black Beans

7. Walnuts

8. Oats

Class of 2008

Congratulations to my baby brother, the most recent high school graduate of the family. I won't bore you with the details of the ceremony, but I will say I have never seen my brother more alive. He is outwardly cheerful, proud, and social. Montana's really been good for him. So anyway, here are a few pictures of the graduate and his lovely party. (I created the fruit plate :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom is the most generous, gracious, and giving person I know. When I am 49, I hope to be just like her. Highlights of her birthday celebration included shopping, special phone calls, dining, live music, laughing, and wine. What else could a birthday girl ask for? (Besides having her birthday advertised on the American Legion marquee, of course)

Tonight I tried Buffalo Tenderloin for the first time. I was skeptical, but let me be the first to tell you: BUFFALO MEAT IS BETTER THAN COW MEAT. It has absolutely ZERO fat, and was more tender than a baby's bottom. Think Filet Mignon...but better!

OH MY GOD. As I am writing this post, I am hearing the strangest horn/alarm/siren/scary noise outside. At first, I thought, "TORNADO!" and my heart began to pound. But, I just realized, it's a train. Okay. Breathe. Phew. (Why did I think it may be a tornado warning? See picture below.)

Anyway, back to the BUFFALO. It was awesome. But what was more awesome was the fact that we inhaled a carmel brownie sundae in about 30 seconds, my mom swigged red wine straight from the bottle, and my Grandpa's best friend, Pepe, rode the stair banister like a pony. You had to be there.

Mango Chicken

If you want to impress your friends with an easy, delicious, fresh, and PRETTY dinner, cook this:

Chicken with Mango Salsa

Salsa:
-Dice a mango in small cubes. Mango should be ripe, but not mushy.
-Cut up a red bell pepper into small pieces
-Add some chopped green onion
-Add a small bunch of cilantro
-Mix ingredients together
-Squeeze a lime over the mixture
-Do not add salt to the salsa
-Put into the fridge until chicken is ready

Chicken:
-Pound out the chicken breasts so they are flat. This also helps the chicken stay very tender.
-Put some olive oil into a pan on the stove top and warm it up.
-Sprinkle Kosher salt and pepper onto the chicken breasts
-Put chicken onto hot pan and cook about 3 minutes per side, or until you think the chicken is ready!

Spoon Salsa over chicken and enjoy!
Serve with a side of couscous....they go great together.

Substitions and additions:
-Add avocado to the salsa
-Add a glaze to the top of the chicken
-Substitute different types of bell pepper for the red
-Substitute pineapple for the mango if you can't find any ripe mangos.

Please Note: I do not include amounts of the ingredients because it depends on how many people you are cooking for. I usually only cook for two people, so in this case I used two chicken breasts, half a bell pepper, a whole mango, about 6 green onions, and a handfull of cilantro. When I cook, I hardly ever measure things out, so just play with it and experiment in your own way! You can add other spices and seasonings as you wish, but the salsa really adds a lot of flavor to the chicken!

Ahi

I tried seared Ahi Tuna for the first time tonight, and I was pleasantly surprised! I've always wanted to try it since everyone I know absolutely loves it. I signed up for a cooking class where a chef from a local restaurant demonstrated how to prepare a seared Ahi appetizer, sliced over guacamole, lettuce, and a blue tortilla chip. OH. MY. GOD. Here's what it tasted like: buttery, extra lean, filet mignon! Yes, ahi tuna tastes like filet mignon. And boy o boy do I looove filet mignon. So, please edit your note-to-self to read, 'feed Jaime filet mignon OR seared Ahi right before she dies.' Ok? Thanks.