Tasty Tuesday

What can I say about this? Creamy Mac & Cheese...YUM



Mac & Cheese Soup
 Ingredients



Kosher salt

4 ounces elbow macaroni (1 cup)

Cooking spray

2 plum tomatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick

4 1/2-inch-thick slices baguette

Freshly ground pepper

3 shallots

1 carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 3/4 cups fat-free low-sodium chicken broth

1 1/4 cups 2% milk

6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook as the label directs; drain.

Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the tomato and baguette slices on it in a single layer; season with salt and pepper. Bake until the bread is golden brown, about 7 minutes.

Mince the shallots, carrot and celery in a food processor. Mist a saucepan with cooking spray. Add the vegetables and cook over medium-high heat until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the broth and bring to a boil; cook, stirring, until thickened, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the milk, cheeses and macaroni and stir until the cheeses melt. Season with pepper. Top the toasts with tomatoes; serve on the soup.

Weekend Fun

Our family decided to head to Zoo Atlanta this past weekend. It was overcast and a bit cold for my tastes but we managed to enjoy the day anyway.

Lions, Tigers and Bears Oh My...It's so easy to forget how much fun you can have at the zoo. We all had a great time and the mini me loved seeing all the animals up close and personal.

New Arrivals

This happened over the weekend!

My sisters cat gave birth. I might take one home.

Whats the deal?

Ever since we moved into our home almost 3 years ago we have been slowly decorating and remodeling. Well, I seem to always fall in love with furniture that is well above my budget. that's why I started doing DIY furniture makeovers (I will start posting pics of that soon). Some of the furniture that I see is so overpriced. Take this for example:

Bodega 6 Drawer Dresser from Zgallerie on SALE for $949.99
I love Zgallerie but I am not crazy enough to pay almost $1000 for one dresser.

Especially when you can get this instead:

MALM 6-drawer dresser for $179

They look pretty much the same to me. Now i know that the dresser from Ikea probably isn't as well made as the West Elm dresser but if your anything like me you will redecorate long before either dresser sees it's last days.

Short but Sweet

My trip was short but sweet and a great time was had by all at Jazz Fest 2011. The trip to Miami was a blast. It was nice to get away just the hubby and I. The preformances were terrific expecially Charlie Wilson. He really put on a great show. Unfortunatly I don't have any pics of the concert becuase I followed the rules on the website and did not bring my camera. Big mistake, everyone had cameras :( . I wont make that mistake next year.

Here a couple of pics of the wonderful Hollywood FL beaches.

Now that I'm back the countdown is on for Cancun 2011...can't wait.

Tasty Tuesday

Whats better than than shrimp? Shrimp that's been dipped in batter and deep fried! YUM!!!

Ingredients


Shrimp:

1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/2 lemon, zested and juiced

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Buttermilk Corn Batter:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 egg

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Special equipment: Thick wooden pop sticks

Dipping Sauce, recipe follows

For the shrimp:

Directions

Add all the shrimp ingredients to a food processor and pulse until well combined and smooth. Form the shrimp mixture into 7 equal sized 2-inch balls. Insert a wooden pop stick into the middle of each shrimp ball and form the ground shrimp into a shape similar to a hot dog. Place shrimp dogs on a cookie sheet and put in the refrigerator until well-chilled and firm, about 30 minutes.

For the corn batter:

Preheat deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.

While chilling shrimp dogs, prepare batter. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, egg, cornmeal, garlic powder, sugar, baking powder and buttermilk.

Place the remaining 1 cup of flour onto a large plate. *Dredge chilled shrimp dogs into flour then dip into the batter and fry in the hot oil for 3 minutes or until dark and golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined sheet tray to drain.

Serve with dipping sauce.

*Cook's Note: Hold corn dog by the stick for the first minute of frying, until batter becomes solid, then fry for another 2 minutes.

Dipping sauce:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon horseradish

1 teaspoon paprika

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, horseradish, and paprika. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve corn dogs.

Receipe taken from HERE

Tasty Tuesday

I love food. I mean I really love food. I love to cook as well so, I thought I would share my love with you. Every Tuesday I plan to post a different yummy item that I will attempt to make. I might as well start this off with a bang. CHOCOLATE...who could argue with that.

Ingredients


1 11-ounce package dark chocolate pieces

1/2 cup butter

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

Creme de Menthe Filling

Dark Chocolate Ganache

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, melt and stir 4 ounces (3/4 cup) of the dark chocolate pieces, butter, and the unsweetened chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat; cool.


2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending the foil over the edges of the pan. Grease foil; set aside.


3. Stir sugar into the cooled chocolate mixture in saucepan. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon just until combined. Stir in vanilla.


4. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in the remaining 7 ounces (1-1/2 cups) dark chocolate pieces. Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan.


5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Spread Creme de Menthe Filling over cooled brownies. Place uncut brownies in the refrigerator while preparing the Dark Chocolate Ganache.


6. Spread slightly cooled Dark Chocolate Ganache over Creme de Menthe Filling, spreading to the edges with a spatula. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until set. Using the edges of the foil, lift the uncut brownies out of the pan. Cut into bars. Makes 48 brownies.

Receipe from Better Homes & Gardens

Old Money Extravagance

According to this quiz I most resemble  "Old Money Extravagance".


Details...


Center hall, formal dining, stately living. To cook a grand meal in an elegant kitchen is your joy. A tailored bedroom rewards a hard day's work. As in theater, life's collaborations result in comedy or tragedy. Forget all of them… you enjoy your niceties. A lithe and agreeable cab - no meal required. Pre-war, upper east side attitude. Always intriguing, never clumsy. .

I would have to agree.

Take the quiz and find out what your style resembles.

Birthday on the beach

My hubbys birthday is coming up next week and being the fantastic wife that I am, I  purchased 2 tickets to this and we cant wait to stay here. The hotel is right on the beach and I am sending up a prayer that the weather is beautiful.  A quick weekend getaway is just what the doctor ordered. I am sooo over winter and completly ready for warm temps and long days.

This is just a taste of what we will be enjoying. Can't wait.

P.S: I will be sure to take lots of pics so I can rub it in your face share. LOL

Zen

My cousin asked me to help her design a spa-like retreat in one of the rooms in her home. So because I love to tell people what I think will work for them help, I put together a mood board for her.


I hope she likes it.

Where has the time gone?

It has been so long since I have thought about posting. Life can be a run away train sometimes, between home, work, school and my non existent social life blogging has taken a backseat. even though no one reads this blog I am happy to have a place to chronicle my thoughts. I have completed one year of my MPH program and am charging full speed ahead into year 2. How time flies. Where has the time gone? My mini-me will be starting kindergarten in less than six months. October will mark my 3rd year in a marriage that has brought me tremendous highs and lows. Marriage is hard. We moved into out first home together 2 years ago and I am still not finished unpacking. The garage still has boxes piled in the corner. With all that our little family has going on I wonder if those boxes will ever get unpacked. Well at least when its time to move to the "Forever House" it will make things easier. HA