Can you feel the love tonight?

So, I celebrated Valentines Day with my husband, but I also invited a few of my SINGLE LADIES over so we could all enjoy a great night of food and friends! This dinner was all about small portions...so had six courses!

Here are some of the highlights:

I made chocolate covered strawberries with toasted hazelnuts, and my Mom made these sweet cupcakes that looked like flowers. These were used to decorate the table...and as party favors.







I decked out the table in red and silver...used the cupcakes and chocolate strawberries as my centerpiece, which I set at the end of the table.













COURSE 1: Baked Brie with French Bread
We started with our favorite Baked Brie...you really must try this...it is to die for!


COURSE 2: Cream of Asparagus Soup
This was made by my Mom. I will post the recipe later. THIS WAS SO DELICIOUS!!! We served these in coffee cups!




COURSE 3: Goat Cheese Tart with Arugula tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette
Kristy created these delicious tarts...it was all YUMMY!





COURSE 4: Mushroom Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter, Saulteed Butternut squash gorgonzola and sweet balsamic glaze.
I made a batch of fresh pasta and rolled out these little babies. I made one large ravioli per person. The balsamic glaze was a nice touch to counterbalance the richness of the gorgonzola.


COURSE 5: Red Wine braised Short Ribs served over sour cream mashed potatoes and au jus
This was a last minute addition to my menu. I thought this would be an easy entree and I was right. I just seared these babies and then the cooked in the crock pot for the rest of the day. The meat was amazingly tender and had great flavor!



COURSE 6: Molten Lava Cake ala mode with Raspberry coulee
We ended the night with Molten Lava Cakes and Cappucinos. Yes there were cupcakes and chocolate covered strawberries...but hey, it is VALENTINES DAY! These little babies have a soft chocolate center and were so YUMMY! Just on the verge of "death by chocolate!"





My Mom lives in Orlando now, and she is AMAZING! She is like the engergizer bunny, I dirty a dish, it is cleaned and put away before I turn around...she is an amazing chef too! She preps like a champ and she is so fun! We had a great time making dinner together!



We started cooking around 11 am yesterday, and we were done about 3...If she wasn't here, I would have been stressed, and not done...this is the first time that I truly enjoyed myself! We all had a lovely time! Kristy was great because she has tons of catering experience, and she helped me plate everything between courses...we are a well oiled machine and can do anything!! I love you girl! The only person you don't see is Viviana, as always, she is behind the camera. THANKS VIVI for the amazing pics!!

What about Paul you ask? Wel...Paul serenaded us! :)

Be Mine...Valentine

Just made a few Valentines...I keep a box on my desk at work. The people I work with know I am kind of crafty...and when they need cards and don't have time to go to the drug store, they stop by my desk.

I sell them for a few bucks...but they are all made with love...and I really sell them because I just like to share pretty things! :)

I am kinda into the cupcake theme this year:

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love those dark chocolate cookies at Panera, called Duet...so I was on a quest to find a good recipe. I settled with this one here. I adjusted the recipe a bit because I didn't have any chocolate chips in my house (i know, for shame)! So I substituted milk and dark chocolate bars...I just cut them into big chunks.


Double Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


Next time I make these, I will add white chocolate chips like the Panera version. I have them in the new cake stand my husband got me for Christmas.


It is just like a diner. We went to a restaurant supply store, and a few months agoI was admiring this stand...(I have a cake plate fetish!) He is so sweet, cause he went back and got it for me. I keep it on my counter with whatever fresh baked goods I have made. I just LOVE it! Thanks Honey!

Baked Brie

Ok, I know baked brie has been around forever. It is so yummy warmed right out of the oven. Well, I had this at a recent Pampered Chef party, and I have been dreaming about it ever since, so I had to make it. Check this out:



There are tons of PC recipes that are keepers, because they are so simple! This one is right up there. The real beauty is you toast the bread and serve it all on the pizza stone...Love that!

Take a wheel of brie, slice it right down the center and set it in the middle of the stone, cut side up. I then spread some apricot/pineapple preserves, and sprinkled some pecans on top. Then take the 2nd half of the wheel, again, cut side up, and put it on top of the first half. Add more preserves and pecans.

Then slice a loaf of french bread and set it all around the brie. Put the whole thing into a 425 degree oven for 8-10 min. Let stand for 5 min before serving.

This is A-MAZ-ING! Simply serve it right on the stone with a large knife for cutting. Your guests will just cut it wedges and eat it on the bread. The rind is even good...I know some people who don't like to eat the rind...warming it like this, the whole thing is so good. You have to try it! This is a simple recipe with big impact.

My NYE Table Setting

This is a little late, but I wanted to document this table I set for New Years Eve. I shared a quiet nite in with my hubby. We had an AWESOME time together!

This is my table...I went with a silver theme...and pulled some of the silver ornaments I had hanging on the tree to dress the table, some little glass marbles (i love these) reflective surfaces, white dishes...total shine!





I picked up 2 porterhouse steaks, and just salt and peppered them and thru in some thinly sliced garlic:


Then I made my favorite steak accompaniment..sauteed mushrooms and shallots in a red wine reduction...SO GOOD!


I picked up some chicken base for a recipe, and saw there was also a beef base...similar to boullion, but a much deeper flavor. I used a little in here which helped the color and made them so delicious and meaty.



I roasted some potatoes with salt, pepper, olive oil and whole cloves of garlic (still in the skin) and I also roasted some asparagus...if you have never tried this, do it...they are delicious! I also did a little surf and turf by grilling up some jumbo shrimp that I had marinating in lemon zest and olive oil.



This was WAY too much food, we only really ate 1/2 of the steaks, mushrooms and asparagus...but it was all really yummy! I used the left over potatoes in a breakfast disn the next morning!





I find I spend a lot of time trying to make lots of other people happy...and this year, I am going to take more time out for me and the people I love the most...make it special, even if it is just the two of you! It is so worth it! :) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

So there are no holidays on the horizon to deck the halls for...I have to cook! :) This time, it is enchiladas...green chile chicken...so simple and easy:

I usually buy a rotisserie chicken once a week. We eat 1/2 for dinner one night, and the next night I shred the rest for another meal...this is the perfect recipe for that.

Take your shredded chicken and add it to a saute pan with 1/2 diced onion and a small can of green chile, just until the onions begin to turn translucent:



Add about 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar, you could also use monterey jack...I just have a love affair with cheddar.



In the mean time, take a clean lint free dish cloth...tuck about 5 corn tortillas inside and nuke in the microwave for about 15 seconds...I always work in small batches, because it is easy to just warm up more.

Take a warmed tortilla, and spoon in some of the chicken filling:



Fold each side up over the filling, and lie them seam side down in a baking dish that has been prepped with cooking spray:



Keep rolling, warming more tortillas as you need them. Once the dish is full, use a can of green chile enchilada sauce. and pour over the top of the enchiladas.



Then use another cup of cheese to top the enchiladas, this time I used a mix of cheddar and monterey jack, and another can of green chilies:



Cook in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes until everything is warmed thru and the top is bubbly and golden:



Serve with some refried beans...home made of course, don't you dare buy canned refried beans...I will show you how to make those one day. Trust me you will LOVE THEM! People who say they hate refried beans have only had bad ones! :)



The great thing about green chiles is that it is super mild...no heat at all...just good flavor and cheesy goodness!

Turkey Soup Anyone?

So, does anyone else still have any leftover turkey? I decided to make some soup out of mine.

I started with a simple miripois: I finely diced 2 celery ribs, 1/2 an onion and 2 carrots. I sautéed them a bit, then added one box of chicken stock and 1 tsp. of poultry seasoning.



In the mean time, I sauteed some mushrooms, zuchinni and garlic with a bit of fresh sage. Once it was nice and golden, I added them to the pot.



After it came to a simmer, I took my leftover turkey and added it to the pot. I also dropped in 2 cups of egg noodles.



When the noodles were done, I added the juice of a meyer lemon. We had tons of them this season, and I just like the flavor of citrus and poultry. I garnished with some fresh sage and served with some nice crusty bread...YUM!

Making Fresh Pasta

I took a pasta making class a few months ago at my local Williams Sonoma, and just had to try it at home. My husband found me the rollers online, we opened up some wine, and off we went...here are some pics:

We made to different flavors, a classic fresh pasta:


and a Spinach flavored pasta:


This dough was so easy to make, one in the kitchenaid, and one in the food processor. I don't know why I am so afraid of dough...I just need to be more adventurous in my cooking the payoff is enormous!

The most magical part is cutting the pasta in the rollers, instantly it is pasta!:





I also made some raviolis with a filling I made with sauteed mushrooms, garlic and ricotta:









I haven't tried it since, but I definitely will again. The process was pretty simple. You can even freeze the dough for up to three months, make a big batch and freeze the dough.







There is really nothing like fresh pasta!