Archive for the ‘Announcements’ Category

Stone Fruit Salad Canapés, Giveaway, & An Announcement

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

I want to share with you, I was thrilled when Frigidaire’s Accessories Store recently asked to feature one of my recipes on their website.  This store sells home appliances as well as an array of other products that include cooking tools like bakeware, pots and pans, cutlery, and food prep tools.  I submitted my recipe for Cherry Jam (my new favorite meal accessory ;) ) and it should be posted soon on the recipe section of their website!

Girard’s Salad Dressings recently contacted me to ask if I would be interested in receiving a few of their salad dressings to try.  I happily agreed and they generously sent me three new flavors:  Apple Poppyseed, Creamy Balsamic, and Peach Mimosa, as well as their signature Champagne Dressing.  So far, I’ve tried the Peach Mimosa Vinaigrette, which I thought was delicious.  It’s a nice blend of sweet and savory flavors and the white wine vinegar is a delicately tart addition.  I used this dressing in a stone fruit salad I made for canapés, but I also think the stone fruit salad would wonderful served with grilled chicken or fish, stirred into plain yogurt with a drizzle of honey, or scooped up with tortilla chips.

Photo Provided by Girard’s 

I used nectarine in my salad because I thought the pretty red skin would be a nice contrasting color to the orange flesh of the fruit.  You can use any stone fruit you want, such as plums, cherries, apricots, or peaches (although you might want to peel the fuzzy skin off peaches if you decide to use them). 

Stone Fruit Salad Canapés
 
(Yield:  4 appetizer-sized servings)

6 thin slices multigrain bread
2 TB canola oil
2 oz Neufchatel cheese (or cream cheese if you prefer)
1 TB plus 2 tsp Girard’s Peach Mimosa Vinaigrette
1 tsp honey
1 small nectarine, diced (about 1/2 to 2/3 c diced)
1 TB minced fresh mint
 
Use a small round biscuit cutter (about 2 inches in diameter) to stamp out 2 circles from each slice of bread; you’ll end up with 12 bread circles.  (Don’t throw out the leftover bread – you can turn it into croutons or bread crumbs.)  In a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat, add the oil; when the oil is hot, add the bread circles and cook until golden on each side, flipping once (about 3 minutes per side).  Remove the bread and let any excess oil drain on a plate lined with paper towels. 

In a small bowl, combine the Neufchatel with 1 TB Peach Mimosa Vinaigrette and 1 tsp honey until smooth.  In a separate small bowl, stir together the diced nectarine, minced mint, and remaining 2 tsp Peach Mimosa Vinaigrette.

Spread a little of the Neufchatel mixture on top of each piece of bread, then top with the nectarine mixture.  Serve immediately.

Now for the giveaway!  Girard’s was kind enough to offer five of my readers the chance to win a Girard’s prize pack.  Each prize pack includes the three new flavors:  Apple Poppyseed, Creamy Balsamic, and Peach Mimosa, as well as their signature Champagne Dressing (all dressings included in the prize pack are pictured above).  (Apologies to my over-seas readers; this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.) 

You do not need a blog to participate!  You can participate in the following ways (you can do as many as you like; please leave a separate comment for each):

  1. Leave a comment telling me which dressing you’re most excited to try.
  2. Add me to your blogroll and leave a comment letting me know.
  3. Subscribe to my posts feed and leave a comment letting me know.
  4. Subscribe to my email feed and leave a comment letting me know.
  5. “Like me” on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know. 
  6. Link back to this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment letting me know.

This giveaway ends July 24th at 9PM EST.  After that I’ll use a random number generator to determine the five winners.  Good luck!

Last but not least, on to my announcement!  Mike and I are going to New York City for a summer vacation…I haven’t been to NYC in about five years, so I’m pretty excited.  I’ll be back in about 10 days!

Picture of the MET I Took Last Time I Was in NYC

Time to Submit Your Fourth of July Recipes!

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Image Source

Just a reminder that you have until 9PM today (7/1) to submit your Fourth of July recipes for All Through the Year Cheer.  There will be a great prize for the winner!

Happy (almost) Independence Day and Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian friends!

Mother’s Day Menu & My Blog’s 1 Year Anniversary

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

If you haven’t entered my latest giveaway yet, there’s still time to do so…it doesn’t end until Saturday night!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers!  In honor of Mother’s Day this Sunday, I wanted to share my family’s Mother’s Day tradition.  Every year we make my mom and dad a restaurant-quality meal and our whole family gets involved (we don’t do another meal like this for Father’s Day so our Mother’s Day celebration is really more of a Parents’ Day event).  I plan the menus (which is my favorite part!) and do most of the shopping and cooking.  Mike does the grilling, my brother is the waiter, my sister is the hostess, and my niece is the entertainment. 

Every year the menu is different, but it always includes several courses, with some form of surf and turf as the main course.  We also change the theme every year.  This year the theme is Coastal Café so the menu is based on New England-y coastal fare.  Here is this year’s menu:

(In the next few posts I’ll be sharing the recipes from the menu.)
 
Our decorations also change every year to reflect the theme.  Here are some of the linens for the table setting this year:
I’m excited to say that Mother’s Day coincides with my blog’s anniversary…I actually started my blog last May right after last Mother’s Day to share the meal we made for my mom.  This Mother’s Day my blog is turning 1!  I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by and how much I’ve come to enjoy blogging.  I want to send a huge thank-you to everyone who has encouraged and supported me, as well as a huge thank-you to my wonderful readers…honestly, you are the reason I write my blog.  Here’s to many more happy years of blogging!

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cupcakes with Hazelnut Buttercream, A Sweet Award, & An Announcement

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I want to announce that the wonderful people at CSN Stores offered to let me do a review of one of their products.  Choosing a product was hard since they have so many wonderful things…they literally have everything from bar stools to cookware to shoes!  I decided on a cast iron skillet with a lid since this is such a versatile kitchen tool…I like to use it for fried eggs (it makes literally the best fried eggs, ever), frittata, potatoes anna, pancakes, or even sautéed veggies.  I can’t wait to review this product and let you all know how it is!

Now for these fabulously moist and delicious cupcakes!  Apologies to my non-chocolate loving friends out there…these cupcakes are a chocoholic’s dream.  The cake recipe is none other than my mom’s Crazy Chocolate Cake (that I used last summer to make my dad’s Vegan Birthday Hoho), made even more indulgent by the addition of chocolate hazelnut truffles.  And then comes the real crowning jewel, the complete gilding of the lily, the hazelnut buttercream…yes, that’s all that really can be said about that…

img_5393-smallThis makes about double the amount of buttercream that is actually needed to frost the cupcakes (which – since I was experimenting – I didn’t realize until after I had made the buttercream), so you can either cut the buttercream recipe in half, double the cake recipe, or double-frost the cupcakes like I did.

img_5414-small1I actually made these cupcakes a few weeks ago, on a day when I was snowed in and not able to make it in to work.  (What could be more fun than baking on a snow day, right?)  I took these cupcakes to work with me the next day and they were a huge hit.  And I was glad to share these dangerously delicious cupcakes with my co-workers and get them out of my house…they were good for a little indulgence, but I did not want a whole batch of them around tempting me!

img_5435-smallChocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cupcakes with Hazelnut Buttercream

 

(Yield:  About 22 to 24 cupcakes and 4 c of buttercream)

 

Crazy Chocolate Cake:

2 2/3 c flour, plus a little extra to roll the truffles in

2 c sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2/3 c cocoa

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp distilled white vinegar

2/3 c canola oil

2 c cold water

22-24 chocolate hazelnut truffles (I used Lindt, but you can use any brand you like)

 

Hazelnut Buttercream:

1 stick butter

1 1/2 c smooth hazelnut butter (or any nut butter you like)

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

16 oz (1 lb) powdered sugar

About 1/2 c milk, added in 1 TB increments (or more to reach your desired consistency)

 

Muffin tray & 22-24 paper liners

Cooking spray

 

For the cupcakes:  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line the muffin tray with paper liners and lightly spray each liner with cooking spray.  Mix 2 2/3 c flour with the sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa, and make three wells in this mixture. To each well add the vanilla, vinegar, and oil.  Use a handheld mixer to combine and add the water.  The batter will be thinner than most cake batters.  Lightly roll each truffle in flour and shake off the excess.  Fill each well of the muffin tray about 2/3 full, place a flowered truffle in the center of each well, and then add a little more batter to cover the truffles. 

 

Bake for about 20 minutes until they’re fully risen and don’t jiggle when you shake the tray (I didn’t use the toothpick test here because of the truffles inside).  Allow to cool slightly in the muffin tray, then remove (the cupcakes might pucker or sink a little in the center because of the truffles…don’t worry, the buttercream will cover it).  Make sure they’re completely cool before frosting.

 

For the buttercream:  Cream together the hazelnut butter and butter, then cream in the vanilla.  Alternate adding milk and powdered sugar until you’ve added all the powdered sugar and the frosting is the consistency you want (you’ll probably end up using about 1/2 c of milk).  Store the frosting in the fridge until ready to use.

img_5349-smallimg_5351-smallimg_5361-smallRecently the lovely Nicole of Prevention RD passed on the Sunshine Award on to me.  If you haven’t visited Nicole’s blog, please do so!  She is a real sweetheart and her blog is full of healthy inspiration, information, and recipes.  Thank you so much for passing this award on to me, Nicole!

sunshine-award

The sunshine award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspire others in the blog world.

 

I would like to pass this award on to the following wonderful bloggers:

1. Veronica of Recipe Rhapsody

2. Mary of Keep Learning Keep Smiling

3. Juliana of Simple Recipes

I’m Back! & A Beautiful Award

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

We had a wonderful time with my family in Florida.  Even though the weather was a little chilly (only averaging in the 50s) it was still much warmer than New York…and the best part is we didn’t see a flake of snow!  Here are some of the highlights…

 

When we left New York…

003-small1When we got to Florida…the ocean…

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100_0239-small100_0263-small100_0273-smallMy law school alma mater…

100_0300-small100_0302-small100_0303-smallOrlando and its theme parks…

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I recently received the Beautiful Blogger award from Dorothy at Kitchen Koala.  If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to check out her blog.  Dorothy is a fantastic cook (and baker!) and she’s got a great sense of humor and outlook on life.  Thank you so much for passing this award on to me, Dorothy!   

beautiful-blogger-award

Instructions for the award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Paste the award on your blog.
3. Link the person who nominated you for the award.
4. Tell 7 interesting things about yourself.
5. Nominate 7 bloggers or less.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated.

 

I’m running out of things about myself to tell you guys (lol!), but here are 7 (hopefully) interesting things:

1. On vacation I just bought 6 new cookbooks (I know, obsessed much? ;) )…each cookbook is dedicated to a different cuisine from around the world. 

2. My favorite painting is Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

3. I love the rain, but only in warm weather.

4. When I was a kid my favorite meal was spaghetti and meatballs.

5. My eyes are a light green/blue color.  (Closest to “seafoam” if you have a Crayola box of crayons.)

6. My hair is poker-straight, but I’ve always wanted curly.  (The grass is always greener on the other side, right?)

7. My ideal evening involves chocolate, a crackling fire, a good movie, and my hubby.  :)

 

I would like to pass this award on to the following fabulous bloggers (ok, so I did 8 :) ):

1. Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella

2. Marla of Family Fresh Cooking

3. Chaya of Sweet and Savory

4. Erica of My Columbian Recipes

5. Nicole of Prevention RD

6. Holly of The Healthy Everythingtarian

7. Karine of Food Gourmand

8. Karyn of French Charming

 

My next post will be an exciting one…I’ll be reviewing one of the wonderful restaurants we enjoyed on vacation and I’ll be hosting a giveaway.  Stay tuned!  :)