Pasta is my best friend

If there is one word of kitchen advise i can give, it would be to always have at least one pack of noodles of some sort in the pantry.  Pasta makes a perfect one-dish meal that you can throw any thing in…anything and it will be delicious.  Think about it…what protein does not go well with pasta? Chicken? Shrimp? Beef? Tofu? Pork? ANY of those can be thrown in a well planned or last minute pasta dish.  Same with veggies (for the most part). Thats the beauty of pasta, ESPECIALLY when you cant think of anything to make for dinner and you have food in your fridge that needs to be used up.

My boyfriend and I move into our new house in just 2 days, which is super exciting, but it also means we have first and last months rent to pay along with deposits.  Talk about a wallet drainer.  Lately we have been very tight with our money when it comes to spending it on food and eating out.  Lucky for us, we had penne pasta on hand along with some butter, cream, garlic, mushrooms, and spinach in the fridge.  I made a quick run to Fred Meyer’s to pick up a pound of shrimp and some parmesean cheese.  Long story short, was able to easily throw together a garlic alfredo sauce (i also added some chopped up sun dried tomatoes for a tasty twist), and cook up the shrimp and mushrooms along with the pasta.  Throw it all together, and add some spinach to wilt down and we had quite the tasty meal in a pinch!

I have made countless of other pasta dishes with what ingredients i have on hand and they all manage to turn out quite delicious.  Pasta is easy, quick and tasty. It can save the day when you don’t feel like going too crazy in the kitchen

Sweet Sweet Taters

If you are anything like me, you love yourself some sweet potato recipes, especially on brisk fall nights.  There is something so comforting about the taste and bold color of sweet potatoes.  Now you could always bake them like my grandmother used to, covered in marshmallows and whatever other sugary substance she put on them, or you can try out some of these delicious fall sweet potato recipes.

Sweet Potato & Sausage Hash

Sweet Potato Hummus 

Twice baked Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potato Doughnuts

So there you have it! 4 new sweet potato recipes to give a whirl this fall season.  Some sweet, some savory. Ah the beauty of the sweet potato 🙂

In Spirit of Halloween…

In the spirit of Halloween, I decided to put up some cute and creative treats that can be served ant any Halloween party.  All of these are creative yet simple and will amuse adults and children alike.

Owl Cupcakes

Mummy Hot dogs

Candy Apples

Mummy Cupcakes

Approved and it feels oh so good!

And it’s official…we found a place to live! I couldn’t be more excited! What’s even better is that there is a FULL sized kitchen!!! WHOO no more tiny cramped apartment “kitchen” with no counter space and a sink not even an infant could fit in. Check it out!

The only thing that is missing is an island which can easily be obtained at IKEA 😉 I realize that I am completely nerding out but you have to understand that this is my first ever house! This is what i have been looking forward to for so long…a place, a home to call my own with my best friend 🙂  I cannot wait to get settled in and make it nice and cozy, and for the holidays and special events we can hold there and that i can cook for…in my very own kitchen! Again, it might sound silly, but in my 20-year-old brain its some of the most exciting stuff ever!!!

Football Food

If you are anything like me then you are constantly surrounded by football fanatics.  The one perk of not really caring about football but being surrounded by large men that do is that you have people with large appetites willing to eat your kitchen creations! I have been scouring the web for game day treats that aren’t packaged and ready to throw in the oven.  Here are some of the things I found that will keep me entertained in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon

Carbonara Potato Skins

Chicken & Bacon Taquitos w/ Avacado Dipping Sauce

Parmesean Knots

Artichoke Burshcetta 

Top things i still need for my kitchen

If you have read my first post, you will know that i am moving soon.  And upon graduation i happened to get a gift car to my favorite store ever, Sur La Table.  I decided before I go in and have a frenzy in the kitchen gadget section that i need to have a list of kitchen tools that i actually NEED…so here it goes.

1) Food mill (for perfect mashed taters)

2) Chinois (so my sauces aren’t lumpy and un-strained)

3) Doughnut pan…because who doesn’t like doughnuts?

4)Fondue pot!!!! (maybe i don’t need one but i really really want one!)

Ok i need to stop because i will keep going on and on. Too bad Sur La Table is so freaking expensive! It’s more reasonable than William’s Sonoma though! It looks as though i will just have to go into the store and pace for hours until I decide what i want to spend my money on. Decisions, decisions…

Pumpkin Creamer!

Like I said before, I LOOOVE pumpkin flavored stuff…especially this time of the year! So what better to add to your morning cup of coffee that PUMPKIN creamer!? check it out guys…

http://fey-next2heaven.blogspot.com/2011/10/homemade-pumpkin-coffee-creamer.html

Festive Drinks

If you are throwing a holiday party of some sort this upcoming season and want something unique and new to serve for beverages, try some of these simple festive cocktails:

Fall Honeycrisp Sangria: http://www.nutmegnanny.com/2009/11/04/honeycrisp-apple-sangria/

Cranberry Mojito: http://www.wearenotmartha.com/2011/11/cranberry-mojitos/

Bailey’s With Coffee Ice cubes: http://www.pinporium.com/summer-cocktail-freeze-coffee-as-ice-cubes-and-toss-in-a-cup-of-baileys-and-vanilla-vodka

Apple Cider Sangria: http://www.nerve.com/advice/drink-this-cocktail-fall-sangria

Great wine AND Soon to be home decor…

I have a weird liking of skull things.  I love sugar skulls and other decorative prints of skulls.  So when I saw a particular wine bottle on the wine shelf at Trader Joe’s called “Dearly Beloved I Thee Red” with a red floral skull on the label I quickly snatched it up not caring that the wine its self was probably garbage.  To my pleasant surprise, this red blend was actually really delicious…and only $8 a bottle! Dearly Beloved is  a blend of Merlot, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc, from the Central Coast.  It’s a nice full bodied red with nice raspberry and stone fruit notes.  Right up my alley.  So not only did i get myself a mighty decent bottle of wine, I also got myself  a  a soon to be vase, candle, or whatever creative piece of home decor Pinterest throws at me involving a wine bottle 🙂

Graduation and Greek Chili!

I GRADUATED THIS WEEKEND! It was bitter-sweet actually.  As much as I am ready to be done with the commitment to school, I will truly miss it.  At the ceremony I got to see all of my friends from my very first term in management that I haven’t seen in months and got to hear some amazing things from the chefs talking on stage.  It’s hard to come to the realization that I actually completed culinary school and after this class I am done…OCI has been a forefront of my life for the past 14 months straight.

But you still have to celebrate right!? I was fortunate to have my parents from St. Louis here in pdx for my graduation along with a bunch of other family members from around the area.  Afterwards we all went back to my aunts house to celebrate, eat, and watch football of course.  I knew ahead of time that the weather was not going to bee too pretty and that barbecuing was to risky to plan with rain in the forecast so I narrowed down my options to sloppy tacos and margaritas or chili and wine.  I decided to  do chili with a twist…I made Greek chili with ground beef, tomatoes, olives (i used sliced black), garbanzo beans, artichoke hearts, and some herbs and spices.  To top it all off, each bowl got a generous scoop of feta cheese and a slice of kalamata olive bread (from Trader Joe’s) .  It was a hit! Everyone was amazed and I found all the complements a bit humorous only because they had no clue how incredibly easy the whole thing was.  Brown meat. Add onion. Throw whatever else in. Crock pot that shit. EASY!

Sometimes the best recipes are the simplest.  Especially when it comes to comfort food.  On an occasion where you are trying to feed a bunch of mouths and not trying to be formal, people will be happiest with something simple and comforting.  Plus I don’t want to be slaving away in the kitchen while everyone has fun and is stuffing their bellies! Thats why I like recipes i can make ahead of time and heat up before it’s time to eat.

So the moral of this post…keep it simple. Keep it delicious.