S'more Pie

I had this idea for a pie for a long time and just haven't had time to get around to it. Well here it is, a graham cracker crust, with home made marshmallow ice cream, topped with a dark chocolate drizzle. Just take a minute to truly wrap your head around this greatness....
Best idea ever.

Spinach experimentation

I wanted to try something new, so this week at the grocery store I bought some spinach. Not that its all that new to me, but its not a common staple in our apartment. I found this recipe that looked delicious and of course modified it to make it my own. There's less cheese (and I used mozzarella) and almonds in my version. Unfortunately since I refuse to measure, my serving was a little pathetic, but good none the less.

http://cuceesprouts.com/2011/01/quinoa-mac-and-cheese-with-spinach/

Summer Food Memories

Last summer I discovered brie and asparagus. Actually I found them together.
I spent the past summer in Italy and let me tell you, that was one food adventure! Pizza, wine, cheese, gelato, paninis, even squid ink. I was on a mission to eat delicious meals and try new food along the way. Well one night a couple of friends and I wandered the street until we found a little family restaurant on the side of a piazza. That night the special was grilled vegetables with brie. Doesn't sound like that special of a dish but I had never really had brie so I thought it would be worth a try. One of the best meals of the summer! The vegetables, including asparagus, were fresh and grilled to perfection and the warm brie complemented it so well. The point is that since that meal, asparagus and brie have been introduced into my diet.

Well tonight I decided to pay an homage to the past summer. I made a brie and elderberry jam grilled cheese with a side of sauteed asparagus. Simple but full of wonderful memories.

My meal in Florence:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So I guess I should be eating steak and potatoes to honor the Irish but that just isn't me. Tortilla soup is more my style. Again didn't use a recipe just tossed in veggies, tomatoes, chicken stock and chicken. Kelley isn't a fan of spicy but since it was just for me it had a real kick to it.

On a more festive note, I did make some green cookies. They're green sugar cookies with andes pieces in them, simple and yummy. Can't go wrong with chocolate mint.

Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day!

For those who don’t know, today is Pi Day. Pi is the number 3.14 and today is 3/14. Luckily someone reminded me in studio. Naturally my first though was, "What pie can I make tonight?" First I was thinking of some sort of ice cream cake/pie (which sounds like a good idea to me, so that may be coming soon) but I decided to take the savory route.

What better that chicken pot pie? Actually today was the first time I had chicken pot pie. It never really called to me. Probably because gravy has never been my favorite but since I never follow a recipe anyways, I just made it my way. The biscuit layer could've used a little more time to cook but all in all I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Go celebrate this joyous day, go eat some pie!

Italian Snack Time

Nothing says breaks to my quite like afternoon coffee time. I love to relax, enjoy a pastry and some good coffee. We had originally planned to try a cupcake place, but due to weather we changed plans. Instead we googled a bakery/ cafe and found Madeline's. Kelley and I both had the tiramisu which was delicious although a tad dense. It also tasted like it had some sort of liquor in it and the purest in me did not approve. With my dessert, I had cappuccino which was actually a bad decision, the whole spread was too heavy, I should've had an espresso. Lesson learned.

Good Food in Sketch PLaces

So it's the start of spring break, let the eating begin!

First food experience: Temel
We (well mostly me) wanted to try a new restaurant near my house. Thanks to google, we found Temel a "European-Mediterranean" place. When we drove up, it looked a little sketchy at first. Not only was it in a strip mall, but it was next to "Poodle Palace." Luckily, inside it was a lot nicer.

For appetizers we split phylo dough cigars stuffed with feta and spices. I thought it would be simple and a little boring, but it was delicious! It was salty and full of flavor. Next food experiment?

(Oh and look at the salt and pepper shakers!)


Next, I tried a Rocege (spelling?) greek wine which was pretty good, mellow and didn't compete with any of my food. My main meal was stuffed zuchini with lamb. Honestly, it tasted like chile reñenos too me. Not as exotic and different as I wanted it to be, but still good.


Kelley was excited to order the swordfish, unfortunately they didn't have it that night. She ended up ordering a chicken pizza "boat." I'm not a chicken pizza girl but hers was actually good, I think it was the tomatoes, it cut through the richness nicely.

Andrea got food too, but she ate it too fast... We couldn't get a picture.



And this is only the beginning!