Picnic went spectacularly
Tonight, I'm heading to the fair to sample some of their famous fair food... and then perhaps die so that should be fun. :D
Friday, October 22, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Food and Love
Our anniversary is on Wednesday. We have been dating two years. Which doesn't really seem like a really long time but considering we have survived my living in 4 different locations in three different cities, hospitalizations due to swine flu, multiple car break downs and nervous break downs, broken windshields, absolutely ridiculous work shifts, approximately 24 bouts of my raging pms, endless papers and projects, and just life in general and we are still as happy as we have ever been, still attached at the hip, still have never even had a fight, I'm am calling it a quality over quantity situation.
So in order to celebrate the happiest two years of my life (and I hope his too), we have decided to have a romantic sunset picnic on the beach. I am super stoked for this. I, as usual, have been given complete leeway with this so I can spread my foodie and event planning wings. I decided to go with small finger food appetizers. I am also really putting forth the effort to make this a super classy affair, whole nine yards. I bought an excellent picnic basket on amazon.com which I think is completely darling. I got a bottle of wine and champagne, garlic stuffed olives, grapes and fancy little pears, mini quiches, some chocolates and pirouette cookies, an assortment of imported cheeses with entertaining crackers and I am going to make my fabulous feta and artichoke dip. I am, however, a tad nervous because I don't think you are allowed glass or alcohol on the beach so I either need to change our location or find a new beverage and individual beverage containers as my basket came with adorable tiny wine glasses. :[
Anyway feta and artichoke dip has, obviously, feta and artichokes in it, but also parmesan and pimentos and mayo, and I also like to top with breadcrumbs for a little extra crispy on top. As for all my cheese, I got brie, dill havarti, fontina, butterkase, edam, herb marinated mozzarella and a honey goat cheese.
Making final preparations, and hoping all goes according to plan...fingers crossed!
So in order to celebrate the happiest two years of my life (and I hope his too), we have decided to have a romantic sunset picnic on the beach. I am super stoked for this. I, as usual, have been given complete leeway with this so I can spread my foodie and event planning wings. I decided to go with small finger food appetizers. I am also really putting forth the effort to make this a super classy affair, whole nine yards. I bought an excellent picnic basket on amazon.com which I think is completely darling. I got a bottle of wine and champagne, garlic stuffed olives, grapes and fancy little pears, mini quiches, some chocolates and pirouette cookies, an assortment of imported cheeses with entertaining crackers and I am going to make my fabulous feta and artichoke dip. I am, however, a tad nervous because I don't think you are allowed glass or alcohol on the beach so I either need to change our location or find a new beverage and individual beverage containers as my basket came with adorable tiny wine glasses. :[
Anyway feta and artichoke dip has, obviously, feta and artichokes in it, but also parmesan and pimentos and mayo, and I also like to top with breadcrumbs for a little extra crispy on top. As for all my cheese, I got brie, dill havarti, fontina, butterkase, edam, herb marinated mozzarella and a honey goat cheese.
Making final preparations, and hoping all goes according to plan...fingers crossed!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Burns: Arms and Leeks
Staying with Mario for the weekend. He worked until 10 last night and had to be back at work at 6 this morning, so I decided to surprise my exhausted boy with some tasty lunch: chicken legs and a potato leek soup/sauce. This was really just a product of my going into the grocery store and picking out some stuff that sounded interesting. This started from the chicken simmered in cream and onion sauce but I wanted something a little more substantive, decided to add potatoes as a side and then was intrigued by leeks in the produce section - thus potato leek soup was born.
So the same way I start a good 75% of everything I make, butter, onions, shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper. I then added a little white wine (I am especially fond of Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc) and a touch of chicken broth. Before All the liquid had cooked off, I added some cream cheese to melt before I added the rest of my liquid ingredients. Once sufficiently cooked down I added more chicken broth and heavy cream and all my seasonings and brought it to a boil. I then added chopped leeks and a few chopped potatoes and left it to boil down while I made my chicken. Herein lies my epic mistake.
Dredged my chicken legs in flour and bread crumbs, and on second thought, I which I had added some other seasonings because I felt it was kind of plain. As they started to brown and get crispy, I tossed them in a casserole dish to roast in the oven (they were pretty thick for chicken legs and I needed to keep them warm for a while anyway). Though I don't usually have problems with popping oil, after it got the top of my foot and and my arm, I finally broke out the screen. Even with it, I got another oil pop to the eye while flipping some, and then while I was taste testing the soup, I caught major pop through the screen on the exact same spot on my arm in addition to burning my mouth on the soup. Not even the best part though.
While being so distracted with this chicken popping all over the place, I had forgotten to stir my soup, and when I finally got back to it, found that some of the potatoes and leeks had stuck to the bottom of this boiling pot, and I oh so stupidly scraped the bottom with my stirring spoon. My perfectly white soup turned brown. Leeks had burnt to the bottom of the pot. And though I pulled out the bigger charred pieces, the damage was already done. Tiny flecks of black marred my own beautiful creation. The super delicate flavor was now completely overpowered by terrible burnt charred ash taste. Soup ruined. I burned soup. How sad and pathetic and ridiculous. I just burned soup. Even now, four hours later, I am so frustrated and disappointed. I created a recipe of my very own, and just as it was proving itself to be an absolutely delightful masterpiece, sure to impress all of the boys and especially Mario, I destroyed it. I just killed my baby. And it really shouldn't be a big deal, I can always try again, but I was so excited about it. It was my first experience with leeks and I was feeling especially proud of my culinary talent, and then victory was snatched away from me. Frankly, I am pissed.
I made peanut butter brownies sundaes for dessert, but really...brownies out of a box. Any moron with a mixing bowl can do that.
Burns all over...arms...mouth...ego. :/
So the same way I start a good 75% of everything I make, butter, onions, shallots, garlic, salt, and pepper. I then added a little white wine (I am especially fond of Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc) and a touch of chicken broth. Before All the liquid had cooked off, I added some cream cheese to melt before I added the rest of my liquid ingredients. Once sufficiently cooked down I added more chicken broth and heavy cream and all my seasonings and brought it to a boil. I then added chopped leeks and a few chopped potatoes and left it to boil down while I made my chicken. Herein lies my epic mistake.
Dredged my chicken legs in flour and bread crumbs, and on second thought, I which I had added some other seasonings because I felt it was kind of plain. As they started to brown and get crispy, I tossed them in a casserole dish to roast in the oven (they were pretty thick for chicken legs and I needed to keep them warm for a while anyway). Though I don't usually have problems with popping oil, after it got the top of my foot and and my arm, I finally broke out the screen. Even with it, I got another oil pop to the eye while flipping some, and then while I was taste testing the soup, I caught major pop through the screen on the exact same spot on my arm in addition to burning my mouth on the soup. Not even the best part though.
While being so distracted with this chicken popping all over the place, I had forgotten to stir my soup, and when I finally got back to it, found that some of the potatoes and leeks had stuck to the bottom of this boiling pot, and I oh so stupidly scraped the bottom with my stirring spoon. My perfectly white soup turned brown. Leeks had burnt to the bottom of the pot. And though I pulled out the bigger charred pieces, the damage was already done. Tiny flecks of black marred my own beautiful creation. The super delicate flavor was now completely overpowered by terrible burnt charred ash taste. Soup ruined. I burned soup. How sad and pathetic and ridiculous. I just burned soup. Even now, four hours later, I am so frustrated and disappointed. I created a recipe of my very own, and just as it was proving itself to be an absolutely delightful masterpiece, sure to impress all of the boys and especially Mario, I destroyed it. I just killed my baby. And it really shouldn't be a big deal, I can always try again, but I was so excited about it. It was my first experience with leeks and I was feeling especially proud of my culinary talent, and then victory was snatched away from me. Frankly, I am pissed.
I made peanut butter brownies sundaes for dessert, but really...brownies out of a box. Any moron with a mixing bowl can do that.
Burns all over...arms...mouth...ego. :/
Thursday, October 14, 2010
My Most Recent Kitchen Exploits
This will be my second time typing out this absolutely enormous post which will hopefully make it to the internet this time. My first blog died/imploded/ceased to exist in webspace. I can see the page itself, but according to all Google land settings, it doesn't exist. This blog is now cassilove2.
OK, so on with my story...
Mario and I are engaged but we don't live together. He is working on his Bachelor's in Communication, I am working on my Master's in Psychology. We go to different schools, live about an hour away from each other with our friends, and long story short, do a semi long distance thing that makes our roommates feel awkward. So, with him living in a house of college aged boys, I occasionally cook for them, and since I didn't have class or work on Wednesday I drove down Tuesday night to feed my boys and spend some time with my boy in particular.
As per request, I made Chicken Parmesan, but I also made Stuffed Manicotti and a few desserts. However, good news travels fast in a tiny college town, and I went from cooking for a few of the boys, to friends, neighbors and girlfriends. Twelve hungry guests in total.
First I made with a sauce that I usually make for lasagna but instead decided use for both the chicken parmesan and stuffed manicotti. I started with onions, garlic, shallots, and green bell pepper. Sidenote: I don't believe in measurements of anything, other than baking which requires precise measurements. I throw shit in a pot until it seems right. It's just how I roll. So anyway, once that all starts looking good, I added a little white whine and some ground beef. I normally prefer the less fatty, but in the case of sauces, fat equals flavor! Then I added a few cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste and all my seasonings and left it on the back burner to simmer while I worked on other stuff.
Manicotti: While my giganto noodles were boiling, I sauteed some onions, garlic and shallots in butter and I made a stuffing using eggs, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, parmesan, romano, and seasonings, and it was nice and brown, my buttery onion/garlic/shallot mixture (which is a great addition for pretty much everything, by the way). Next time I make this, I need to remember to bring my piping bag to Mario's house (my previous job was in a bakery and his kitchen just isn't as well equipped as mine). Ziploc bags do not work nearly as well as I expected. Ultimate fail. Anyway, once the manicotti were stuffed I drenched them in sauce and then topped with a variety of shredded cheeses: mozzarella, parmesan, romano, fontina etc. Threw that bad boy in the oven and onto the next!
The Chicken: which Mario so graciously beat to perfect thinness and dredged for me too! (in bread crumbs, flour, crushed cornflakes, parmesan and romano cheese, and seasonings) Pan fried in olive oil for a few minutes on each side, topped with some sauce and my mix of cheeses. Put this in the oven as well, along with some pieces of french bread toasted with garlic butter. All in all, dinner was a smash hit. And then came dessert!
Apple Crisp: gigantic honey crisp apples, plus butter, sugar, and ridiculous amounts of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, etc. Not exactly sure what "pumpkin pie spice" entails but it made the house smell like thanksgiving, so I'm calling it a win. Made a topping with more butter, brown sugar, chopped nuts, a little bit of oatmeal, and more crushed cornflakes. This was, unfortunately, not as crispy as I had intended, I don't know if there was too much butter, or I should have added flour while the apples were cooking in the liquid on the stove, or I didn't bake it long enough for it to absorb the liquid. Regardless, too much apple soup resulted in a tasty, but not so crispy apple crisp. I was a touch disappointed. But onto bigger and better things.
Bananas Foster(!!!): I had never made this before, and for some stupid reason, was under the impression it might be difficult. I was so wrong!! This is the easiest thing ever to make. Bananas, butter, and brown sugar simmered on the stove then served over ice cream I even got a bit of dark rum and did the flambe! I was so impressed with myself that I even made more (sans rum though) for pancakes the next morning while Mario was in class. It was epic breakfast!
Then Mario went to work and I went home and blah blah blah ate boring food until the next time I blog about food and love and Google's entirely circular logic when it comes to troubleshooting blogs.
OK, so on with my story...
Mario and I are engaged but we don't live together. He is working on his Bachelor's in Communication, I am working on my Master's in Psychology. We go to different schools, live about an hour away from each other with our friends, and long story short, do a semi long distance thing that makes our roommates feel awkward. So, with him living in a house of college aged boys, I occasionally cook for them, and since I didn't have class or work on Wednesday I drove down Tuesday night to feed my boys and spend some time with my boy in particular.
As per request, I made Chicken Parmesan, but I also made Stuffed Manicotti and a few desserts. However, good news travels fast in a tiny college town, and I went from cooking for a few of the boys, to friends, neighbors and girlfriends. Twelve hungry guests in total.
First I made with a sauce that I usually make for lasagna but instead decided use for both the chicken parmesan and stuffed manicotti. I started with onions, garlic, shallots, and green bell pepper. Sidenote: I don't believe in measurements of anything, other than baking which requires precise measurements. I throw shit in a pot until it seems right. It's just how I roll. So anyway, once that all starts looking good, I added a little white whine and some ground beef. I normally prefer the less fatty, but in the case of sauces, fat equals flavor! Then I added a few cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste and all my seasonings and left it on the back burner to simmer while I worked on other stuff.
Manicotti: While my giganto noodles were boiling, I sauteed some onions, garlic and shallots in butter and I made a stuffing using eggs, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, parmesan, romano, and seasonings, and it was nice and brown, my buttery onion/garlic/shallot mixture (which is a great addition for pretty much everything, by the way). Next time I make this, I need to remember to bring my piping bag to Mario's house (my previous job was in a bakery and his kitchen just isn't as well equipped as mine). Ziploc bags do not work nearly as well as I expected. Ultimate fail. Anyway, once the manicotti were stuffed I drenched them in sauce and then topped with a variety of shredded cheeses: mozzarella, parmesan, romano, fontina etc. Threw that bad boy in the oven and onto the next!
The Chicken: which Mario so graciously beat to perfect thinness and dredged for me too! (in bread crumbs, flour, crushed cornflakes, parmesan and romano cheese, and seasonings) Pan fried in olive oil for a few minutes on each side, topped with some sauce and my mix of cheeses. Put this in the oven as well, along with some pieces of french bread toasted with garlic butter. All in all, dinner was a smash hit. And then came dessert!
Apple Crisp: gigantic honey crisp apples, plus butter, sugar, and ridiculous amounts of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, etc. Not exactly sure what "pumpkin pie spice" entails but it made the house smell like thanksgiving, so I'm calling it a win. Made a topping with more butter, brown sugar, chopped nuts, a little bit of oatmeal, and more crushed cornflakes. This was, unfortunately, not as crispy as I had intended, I don't know if there was too much butter, or I should have added flour while the apples were cooking in the liquid on the stove, or I didn't bake it long enough for it to absorb the liquid. Regardless, too much apple soup resulted in a tasty, but not so crispy apple crisp. I was a touch disappointed. But onto bigger and better things.
Bananas Foster(!!!): I had never made this before, and for some stupid reason, was under the impression it might be difficult. I was so wrong!! This is the easiest thing ever to make. Bananas, butter, and brown sugar simmered on the stove then served over ice cream I even got a bit of dark rum and did the flambe! I was so impressed with myself that I even made more (sans rum though) for pancakes the next morning while Mario was in class. It was epic breakfast!
Then Mario went to work and I went home and blah blah blah ate boring food until the next time I blog about food and love and Google's entirely circular logic when it comes to troubleshooting blogs.
A Little About Me
My name is Cassi. Or Cassandra. Never Cas. Never ever ever everevereverever. Mostly just Cassi though. I am working on a Master's Degree in Psychology. I work in an academic office. I have a cat named Molly who makes me laugh every day. I live with another girl named Cassi and her boyfriend. But none of those things have anything to do with this blog. This is a blog about love and cooking.
I am in love. Once upon a time, I stopped believing that there was anybody out there for me. I gave up on ever meeting somebody who would be my knight in shining armor. And then I accidentally met somebody on Craigslist. His name is Mario and I love him like I have never loved anybody or anything in my life. I never realized how empty I was until I found my other half. He is the cheese to my macaroni, so to speak. While I could write an entire blog just about all the reasons why I am absolutely enamored with him, and rest assured, there will be the occasional post about it, this is a blog about us and something we share in common.
We. Love. Food. no, seriously.
We love shopping for it, cooking it, eating it, talking about it. We love restaurants, cookbooks, Food Network. Pretty much all of it. Mario + Food = Full Heart AND Belly. Which makes Cassi happy all over. So much so, that I am going to write a blog about it. So this is me, approaching love and cooking with reckless abandon, as the quote says.
I am in love. Once upon a time, I stopped believing that there was anybody out there for me. I gave up on ever meeting somebody who would be my knight in shining armor. And then I accidentally met somebody on Craigslist. His name is Mario and I love him like I have never loved anybody or anything in my life. I never realized how empty I was until I found my other half. He is the cheese to my macaroni, so to speak. While I could write an entire blog just about all the reasons why I am absolutely enamored with him, and rest assured, there will be the occasional post about it, this is a blog about us and something we share in common.
We. Love. Food. no, seriously.
We love shopping for it, cooking it, eating it, talking about it. We love restaurants, cookbooks, Food Network. Pretty much all of it. Mario + Food = Full Heart AND Belly. Which makes Cassi happy all over. So much so, that I am going to write a blog about it. So this is me, approaching love and cooking with reckless abandon, as the quote says.
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