The Foreseasons

Door County

2012-03-14T21:35:00.000-05:00

We got away this weekend for some R&R in Door County. We spent our honeymoon in Door County so it has a lot of great memories. Erica's Godparents were kind enough to let us use their home in Bailey's Harbor. It is "offseason" right now so it is kind of quiet, but we were able to hit a couple of our favorite spots and really loved the weekend. Thank you Chuck & Debbie! We needed it.

Saturday morning we headed to Fish Creek and ordered up some Cherry-Stuffed French Toast at the White Gull Inn. This was named Best Breakfast on Good Morning America a couple years ago. I often wonder if the cooks get sick & tired of this recipe.

We spent a better part of the day shopping for local goodies in Fish Creek & Egg Harbor. Door County really has a handful of local ingredients and dishes that are true to the area. We picked up some balsamic vinegar & hazelnut oil from The Oilerie in Fish Creek, and then picked up some summer wines & cherries from the Orchard Country Winery on the way to Egg Harbor.

Despite the snow in the background, the weather was beautiful up there for this time of year. We decided to burn off the french toast with a hike through Peninsula State Park. Like many of Wisconsin's parks, this is a magnificent state park. Great hiking and next year I am driving up there for the cross-country ski trails. Look at the geek wearing the "Door County" sweatshirt!

Great shot of the ice on Lake Michigan.

You need to know two recipes to open a restaurant in Door County. Fried perch on Fridays and prime rib on Saturdays. Sticking with the local theme, we went to The English Inn for some juicy prime rib on Saturday.

What better way to end the weekend (any weekend for that matter) than a trip to Lambeau on the way home. (This was Erica's idea!) After all these years, this was my first time doing the stadium tour. Being on the field gave me goose bumps.

I just liked this picture because my brother-in-law is a Bears fan. Behind the line!

Weekend with my Buddy

2012-03-04T22:32:00.000-06:00

We took care of Liam this weekend while his parents got to get out of town for a small getaway. We had a blast sledding today so I wanted to share a few pics and a video. It was a great weekend full of playtime, smiles and laughter which made both Liam and I cry when I left today. I feel very lucky to know that he loves me as much as I love him.

Another Amelia Bedelia Baking Moment

2012-02-19T18:15:00.000-06:00

February's Food Network magazine featured a bunch of red velvet desserts as an ode to Valentine's Day and I fell right into that trap. I marked a bunch and after several weeks of salivating over them I decided on making this Four Layer Red Velvet Cake. I have been seriously dreaming about this cake and finally got around to making it this past Saturday night.

There are many things that happen to me when baking in the kitchen where I feel like the character Amelia Bedelia in those children's storybooks where she can't seem to do anything right. Anyone remember those?

This four-layer cake was no exception. If I had a panel of judges, perhaps my criticisms would have been the following:

1. Think ahead, plan a little better. Getting the cakes into the oven at 7:30 at night when they have to bake for 40 minutes and then cool for an hour puts you at about 9:15 to start the frosting.

2. Become one with the kitchen-aid. I'm always adding the flour or powdered sugar when it is going too fast and it ends up dusting my kitchen. Also, do not crack eggs on the side of mixer just in case the shell breaks and disappears into the full speed kitchen-aid....cuz yes, that's happened to me before too.

3. Learn how to frost a dang cake. Why does mine always look like a 3 year old frosted it?

4. And here's the kicker Amelia Bedelia moment: Check and double-check the food coloring. Before starting, I carefully laid out all my ingredients just like a good little Food Network chef so that I could stay organized and just grab what I needed as I moved along. Things are going great until I put the food coloring in the batter and instead of a bright-red color I'm getting orange-yellow. Dumbfounded I keep letting the kitchen-aid do its thing when I notice that the cap on the food coloring is yellow. So there went my red-velvet cake!

After making the buttercream frosting, I finally begin frosting the cake at about 9:45 which makes me crack up laughing to myself for two reasons. 1) Who would have ever guessed that I would be baking in the kitchen at 10:00 on a Saturday night?! and 2) It is almost 10:00 and I fully intended to eat a piece of the final product even if it meant I was going to bed 10 minutes later. In the midst of my laughter, I shouted to Chris to come upstairs and get a picture of me frosting this cake.

I borrowed this cake stand from Anna which I totally want to steal.

"Yellow Velvet Cake". See me for this unique recipe.

In closing, yes we did split a piece of cake this late at night.....but in our defense Chris went skiing that morning and I swam a mile. And it was still damn good even if it looked like carrot cake instead of red velvet. We also gave away more than half of the cake to the Miller and Torres families today, but I'm still looking forward to a piece after dinner tonight!

Il Mito Part 2 - Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T20:16:00.000-06:00

Just like most of my gifts, this blog is a day late. Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to all of our readers. We returned to Il Mito for our Valentine's Day dinner. Not sure if I speak for my better half, but money spent on chocolates & flowers is money that could be spent on a nice meal. The way to the Foreseasons' hearts is through our tummies. To make the experience even better, there was a private party next to us having their meal cooked by Chef Feker. So we were able listen, watch and generally mooch off their experience.

It was one of those nights where I famously curse about Wisconsin's winter so we both warmed up with a creamy roasted pepper and potato soup (not pictured). Then we ordered a pair of light apps...the first was called involtini di melanzane...a thinly sliced grilled eggplant rolled with roasted red bell peppers, aged mozzarella and herbs, laced with an aromatic tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked to a bubbly perfection. The second was called crimini arrostito...baby portobellos stuffed with a blend of Italian cheeses, herbs and shiitake mushrooms baked in Il Mito’s famous tomato sauce.

Erica ordered the gnocchi con polpettine di vitello...Chef Feker’s homemade gnocchi with lemon scented veal meatballs, roasted broccolini and caramelized onions, served in a creamy roasted garlic sauce. Homemade gnocchi is one of those things that can be time consuming to make at home so it is a nice entree to enjoy at a restaurant. Same goes for the veal. It can be a bit expensive and hard to find at your usual store so we both like ordering things nowadays that we would not make at home.

For my entree I ordered Feker’s family recipe revival 2010 winner braciola di maiale farcito...apple wood bacon and gorgonzola stuffed boneless pork chop atop a caramelized apple brandy sauce served with Parmesan roasted potatoes and sautéed baby spinach. I think these dishes are really where Il Mito shines. Classic, hearty winter dish...protein, starch, veggie...and then adding so many creative twists. The brandy sauce was so flavorful and really complimented everything on the plate.

Finally for dessert we ordered a pear puff pastry for dessert. You will never find me eating a regular pear, but I do like it in desserts, especially when it is cut with ice cream or whipping cream.

We are both very high on Chef Feker's restaurant. My favorite part about the dining experience is trying creative interpretations of classic dishes. He does it so well at Il Mito. Trust me Gump, this meal sure beats a box of chocolates. Happy Valentine's Day!

Il Mito - Part 1

2012-02-13T19:42:00.001-06:00

For Christmas, Ryan & Veronica bought us tickets to Il Mito's Chef Michael Feker's Culinary Studio for a night of gourmet wine tasting and three course dinner. Guests have the opportunity to experience and share Chef Feker’s mission to get you back to the basics, and back to the table with great food, friends and family. Events offered range from individual lessons with Chef Feker and Wines of the Region to hands-on classes and team-building events. Explore their web site and learn more about what they have to offer. We recommend this for any foodie or anyone looking for a unique dining experience.

Chef Feker prepared a creative three-course italian meal using local ingredients. The experience really centered on the pairing of each wine with the dish. If you have been following this blog, you know that is an unofficial New Year's resolution of mine. If you haven't been following this blog, that is an unofficial New Year's resolution of mine.

The first course was his take on a buffalo chicken wing. For this entree, Chef paired it with a white wine - Moscato d'Asti. We are really trying to be more aware of what to look for in a wine and how to pair it with certain dishes. The Moscato balanced very well with the tangy chicken.

This second dish was my favorite of the night. Braised pork short ribs were served in an aromatic sauce and topped with crunchy potato crisps. Great idea to give it a crunchy texture and a technique that you will soon find in the Foreseasons kitchen. I am a big fan of the braising technique. The pork was so tender and just falled apart on the fork. I also enjoyed the use of sweet potatoes, not something you normally see in italian dishes. Put together, it was just a perfect winter dish. Meat & potatoes with many creative twists.

Chef paired this dish with a Querceto Chianti Classico. The full-bodied red was perfect with this hearty entree. In fact, I am sampling it right now to get rid of any writer's block (while Erica does Zumba behind me).

Chef Feker preparing the chocolate mousse & strawberries...

Dessert. A chocolate mousse with strawberry sauce. As a former pantry cook, I have said 100 times that I love to order desserts at nice restaurants. Likewise the dessert wines are growing on me too. Chef paired the mousse with a Canei Lambrusco Dell' Emilia. The sweet wine really rounds out a rich dessert like the mousse.

Enjoying the Chianti & Lambrusco...

We returned to Il Mito for Valentine's day. Part 2 coming soon.

8 Years

2012-02-07T08:09:00.005-06:00

We are celebrating 8 years of being in each other's lives today. After working together for one year and having maybe too much Guiness at a work function at Mo's Irish Pub, Chris asked me to be his date for an upcoming wedding. The rest is history. We've continued to celebrate the anniversary of our first date, just like we do our wedding anniversary. To celebrate a bit early, this past Saturday we decided to make a meal that is special to us, one that we first made when we began dating and continue to make at least once a year for a special occasion. We ate dinner by candlelight while sharing our favorite memories over the past 8 years. Perfect.

Vegas! This is the meal Bania...

2012-01-23T20:11:00.001-06:00

We were right on schedule this year with a Las Vegas vacation every two years. We've been there together for Chris' 30th, Tara's 30th, Ryan & Veronica's wedding and now Matt's birthday. Las Vegas truly is Disney World for adults in my eyes. So much fascination with all the glamorous hotels, attractions, food and the fact that you can shop with a drink in your hand!

Winter Wonderland outside The Venetian

It was Matt & Nicki's first time in Vegas. Matt won $1400 on his birthday so he thought it was pretty cool. I got a call the other night about booking another trip in May. Not sure my internal organs will be ready by then.

Inside the Wynn Hotel

Home Base: Bugsy's Bar in the Flamingo

I would like to say these pictures bring back great memories but really they aren't helping :)

Outside The Mirage Hotel

Chris & The Rock

Bellagio Water Show

For Meyer's 30th-something birthday, we took him out to Prime Steakhouse at the Bellagio. His idea of fine dining is Olive Garden so this was a nice treat...for us. Fortunately his girlfriend Nicki also likes the nice places so she was able to twist his arm.

Every Vegas trip we try to hit at least one really nice restaurant and Prime did not disappoint. I started out the meal with a bowl of their baked french onion soup...

For the sides we ordered the mac & cheese and white truflle mashed potatoes. This was the best mac & cheese I have ever had in my life. Very sharp cheese and seasoned well.

All four of us ordered the Filet with a bearnaise sauce. We paired it (perfectly) with a bottle of Cabernet. (My unofficial New Years resolution is learning how to do this better.) My god this meal was delicious.

Finally a chocolate molten cake with vanilla bean ice cream courtesy of Prime. Start your drooling now...

Nutella Goodness

2012-01-17T10:16:00.002-06:00

I had never had Nutella until our vacation in Italy this past spring. I had no idea of its chocolatey goodness and always thought it would have more of a coffee flavor (and I hate coffee). Our hotel in Rome would serve croissants with Nutella inside which were heavenly and I would eat them for breakfast each day...and every other time a dessert menu offered it. Eating Nutella now definitely invokes the memories of our first european vacation.

This winter I tried two different cookie recipes using Nutella. One was a Nutella hazelnut cookie from Cuisine magazine, but I thought the cookies turned out to be too hard - maybe I baked them too long. I brought those to a cookie exchange at our extended family xmas.

The other cookie was a Nutella sandwich cookie that was in the November issue of Cooking Light magazine, but originally from the Radically Simple cookbook. Cookies baked with Nutella, cut in half and then stuffed with Nutella.....um, yes please. I thought these cookies turned out much better, but again I think I would cook them just a minute or two less as they were also a bit hard and would somewhat crumble when I tried to cut them in half. I'm still working on mastering this baking thing!

Here is the recipe direct from Radically Simple/Cooking Light:

Nutella Sandwich Cookies
13 oz jar Nutella
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1 large egg
1.25 cups self rising cake flour

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Beat together 3/4 cup of the Nutella, the butter, and egg. Slowly add the flour until a wet dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently, adding more flour if needed. The dough will be sticky. Divide the dough into 18 pieces and roll each into a perfect ball, flouring your hands as you go. Place several inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, until firm. Cool 10 minutes.

Using a serrated knife, split each cookie in half horizontally. Spread each bottom half with 1 tsp Nutella. Replace the tops, pressing lightly.

Ceasar Salad

2012-01-15T13:14:00.000-06:00

This is my absolute favorite salad. I've played around with it over the years, adding a few more ingredients to the traditional Ceasar Salad. It has become a staple at our Xmas Eve dinner and we serve it on chilled plates.

Salad Ingredients:
Head of romaine lettuce, chopped
Head of red leaf lettuce, chopped
1 cucumber, cut into quarter moons
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, sliced
Toasted pine nuts
Grated parmesan cheese

Dressing Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp anchovy paste
Juice from 2 lemons
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup EVOO (a lemon olive oil is even better)
kosher salt & pepper

Place first four ingredients in small glass bowl. Stream in EVOO while whisking. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve over salad just prior to serving.

Graze Magazine

2012-01-08T19:43:00.001-06:00

Published! Back in November The Foreseasons were graciously invited to participate in a Potluck Dinner with other local food bloggers Alysha, Rebecca, and Paul & Lori. Paul and Lori opened up their home for the event which was organized by both of them and the Publishing Staff of Graze magazine, a quarterly publication of Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative. There are three locations in the Milwaukee area and more information on Outpost can be found on their website Here.

It is very exciting for two of our recipes to be published in Graze magazine, especially since one was Grandma's and the other was a Foreseasons original. The creative aspect of cooking is the best part next to the eating. It was also great to get together with other Milwaukee Foodies who share a similar passion. We had decided on a theme of soup and grilled panini's and then each blogger was assigned a course to make. Our spread consisted of several homemade breads, various cheeses & roasted vegetables, homemade toppings like Door County cherry chutney & candied jalapenos, a Thai-style roasted squash and red pepper soup, a roasted tomato soup and banana capcakes with fluffy chocolate hazelnut frosting for dessert. Several of these recipes along with descriptions of all the food blogs can be found in this Graze issue.

The Foreseasons took the appetizer round and we came up with a BLT Stuffed Endive. It was a take on a BLT dip that Chris' Grandmother used to make for him when he would eat lunch at her house during his summers off from college working in Port Washington. To jazz it up a bit, we used Nueske's Wild Cherrywood Smoked Bacon, Leeks, Tomatoes, a homemade garlic aioli and served it in crunchy endive leaves.

We also created a roasted butternut squash spread that could be used on sandwiches or crackers. Roasted squash, thyme, maple syrup butter and cream cheese are just a few ingredients that make up this savory spread.

I'll wait to give out the recipes on this blog for now, as of course we want you to run out to Outpost and purchase the winter issue of Graze!

A special thanks to Paul and Lori for including us and to Malcolm, Paul and the ladies at the Graze publication for featuring us. Cheers to Milwaukee Foodies!!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T07:00:00.003-06:00

What a memorable Christmas this year! I did a play by play of our Xmas Eve at my parents last year which can be found here. Christmas 2011 followed along a similar pattern, but Liam was a little older and we added another dog to the mix.

A few things that were memorable about this year: Taking pictures outside on an abnormal 40 degree day, playful dogs, Liam's cute holiday sweater, dinner by candlelight, Liam's reaction to the cookie monster toy and clapping for himself playing with it, making dinner together in the kitchen with my mom, Chris & Tara and listening to music, opening the gift of my Gma's pillow, opening way too many generous gifts, dill pickle soup, playing the newlywed game at my in-laws and singing happy birthday to my sister in law. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Christmas Eve

Seriously, no socks in December?!

Mushroom & Leek Stuffed Beef Tenderloin

Ceasar Salad (recipe to follow)

Christmas Day

Walnut, Dried Cherry & Feta Salad

Dill Pickle Soup (a Polish tradition)

Birthday Girl

Relaxation and Packers

Egg Nog French Toast

2011-12-27T20:25:00.000-06:00

Foreseasons got engaged on the morning of December 26th some years ago. After getting her folks' blessing on Christmas Eve, the plan was to propose on Christmas night. Instead, Erica fell asleep so I had to wait until the next morning and wake her up with one more gift. What is the next best thing to diamonds? Egg Nog French Toast of course...

4-6 thick slices of french bread
3-4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup egg nog
pinch of cinnamon
splash of vanilla extract

Seriously, these were awesome. They are a great way to use up some of that egg nog in the fridge.

And A Happy New Year

2011-12-23T07:19:00.001-06:00

Happy Holidays from The Foreseasons!

Catch Up

2011-12-18T20:59:00.001-06:00

It has been a busy month and the blog has been lacking I know. Here is a bit of a catch up for December:

We were incredibly honored to become Liam's Godparents.

We watched fireworks from our dinner table at Tulip during the Third Ward tree lighting party and walked the streets of our old neighborhood on a brisk Friday night. It was a great "date night" and we loved being in our old neighborhood.

We had the pancake breakfast at Georgie Porgie's. Topped with strawberries and vanilla ice cream. It was to die for.

We had a couple of "wine nights" with family and friends.

We celebrated the holidays with my Mom's side of the family.

We got a "new" member of the family. Tara and Erik's Westie puppy, Daytona.

I had my buddy over to play. He wasn't very good at helping me wrap gifts, but sure put a smile on my face even after he was gone. Now I know how he keeps his mommy so busy and she can never get anything done!

Finally, our "Big Sunday Meal" blog feature definitely lived up to its name today, after waking up and becoming inspired (or it is hungry?) watching Food Network this morning.

Apple pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast:

Wedge salad, cottage mashed potatoes and filets with sauteed mushrooms for dinner:

We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Breakfast in Elm Grove

2011-12-08T21:54:00.002-06:00

It had been awhile since we went out to breakfast, so when Chris wanted to hit up REI in Brookfield for some new cross-country skis last Sunday, I was easily lured out of bed to tag along with the promise of a good meal.

I pulled out my trusty Milwaukee Magazine issue from December 2010 which features 25 of the Best Breakfast spots in Milwaukee, hoping to find one in that area. We were in luck and headed to Nora B's in Elm Grove. Nora B's is a quaint cafe with both tables and countertop seating in the midst of a small shopping center.

Upon being seated Chris had commented on the cinnamon rolls that he had already zoned in on at the countertop bar. A nearby customer said they were homemade every morning and with that Chris had one ordered and delivered with his coffee.

We both ordered off the Specials for that day. Chris got the banana cream cheese stuffed french toast with caramel drizzle. He definitely got his sugar fix for the day.

I ordered the Mexican breakfast quesadilla with chorizo, green pepper, onion & tomato. It filled my entire plate and I couldn't finish it no matter how much I wanted to. The quesadilla was crisp and the chorizo was not too spicy or oily. I'm actually surprised I chose a dish like this as chorizo in the a.m. is way out in left-field for me.

We were impressed with our entire experience and I would recommend visiting Nora B's the next time time you are looking for a breakfast nook in this area. One of the things I really liked is that I heard one of the waitresses call the woman who seated us "Nora" which always adds to that cozy feeling you get at small privately owned places when the owner cares enough to be there seating the customers and making sure everything is enjoyable. That, along with the food and attentive service definitely gave us a good start to our day.

The Holidays Are Here

2011-11-27T20:44:00.002-06:00

What a great four day weekend. I feel like we got so much done and yet it was so relaxing.

We had a great turkey day, full of all the usual fixins' at my Mom and Dad's house. I'm thankful for such wonderful parents!

I wanted to bring the cranberries this year using a recipe from Foodista that can be found here. I'm a sucker for all things with pomegranate during this season, so when this recipe came across my email, it was a shoo-in. I'm not sure if I didn't reduce the juice long enough though, as I ended up straining a lot out of the finished product. I loved the texture with the pomegranate, cranberries and apple combined.

Did I mention there were just six of us eating? Do you think we had enough stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes in the picture below? I'll just say we went home with lots of leftovers! We made this soup tonight using the leftover turkey and carrots.

I also got to spend an afternoon with my sister and my nephew on Friday and visit the Millers and their newest addition Daytona, a tiny little Westie puppy on Saturday. I feel like I haven't posted a pic of Liam in awhile. He loves to play outside and here is my best attempt of taking a pic of us throwing the ball to his dog Chuy.

In between all that Chris and I went to Buffalo Bill's (great name, right?) and got our Christmas tree and decorated it on Friday night. Best of all, my Mom came up and spent a few hours with me decorating my house for the season. She has the magic touch and my house has never looked more festive, so I'll share a few pics. I'm learning though!

Now it is time to plan a holiday party....

My Mother in Law buys us all the cooking santas and my Mom helped me find them a great home on top of the cupboards in the kitchen.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

2011-11-23T07:54:00.001-06:00

This recipe comes directly from October's issue of Food Network magazine and our good buddy Emeril Lagasse.

You can find the link to Emeril's recipe here. I took a shortcut and bought a 'Nilla Pie Crust' and then just layered crushed pecans on top of it. I also added some pumpkin pie spice to both the filling and the whipped topping. I'm still trying to find my groove in baking, so I don't stray too often from recipes yet.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is here!? We will be in Jville with my parents this year as we switch every other year with both our families. Happy Thanksgiving dear readers! I hope you enjoy the day with your loved ones!

Mexican Stuffed Poblanos

2011-11-20T18:45:00.000-06:00

This recipe was adapted from October's Cooking Light magazine. However, we made a few changes, so perhaps it ended up not as "light". This was our first time making mexican stuffed peppers. Since I've got a low heat tolerance, I've never been sure about them. They are a nice change of pace from tacos, tostadas and enchiladas. We had a ton of the bean and rice mixture leftover which I just made into tacos later on in the week.

Ingredients:

4 poblano chile peppers
1 box Zatarains Spanish Rice+14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 can black beans
1 can chopped green chiles
1 tbsp cumin (we prob used way more)
Shredded monterey jack and cheddar cheeses
Salsa and sour cream for topping

Broil poblanos for 5-10 minutes or until blackened. Place in glass bowl and cover with saran wrap tightly. Let stand 15 minutes and peel skin off peppers. Cut each poblano lengthwise discarding seeds and lay on baking sheet.

Cook Spanish rice as directed.

Saute onion and garlic for 3-5 minutes in skillet. Add black beans, chiles and cumin. Simmer for 10 minutes. Then add to Spanish rice.

Divide rice & bean mixture among the poblanos, pressing poblanos gently to close. Top each poblano with cheese. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

No mexican meal at our house would be complete without a batch of homemade fresh salsa; my favorite thing to eat and make. The recipe is one of my first blog entries: http://foreseasons.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-could-eat-salsa-for-dinner.html

This was a great vegetarian meal and fed us a few times during the busy work-week.

Apple & Pomegranate Salad

2011-11-07T19:37:00.000-06:00

This salad was inspired by a recipe from October's Cooking Light magazine. We served it with Pecan Crusted Salmon.

Salad Ingredients:
1 apple diced
1 pomegranate seeded
1 bunch of fresh spinach
toasted walnuts
feta cheese

Dressing:
1 small tbsp dijon mustard
1 small tbsp honey
red wine vinegar
EVOO (we used a lemon one)
kosher salt
ground pepper

Indian Style Roasted Eggplant Soup

2011-10-24T19:06:00.000-05:00

Foreseasons original. We went to an Indian grocery store on Saturday in Tosa near Mayfair mall. Picked up some vegetables and got inspired to make an Indian-style soup.

2 large Indian Eggplants, peeled & chopped
3 Red Potatoes, peeled & chopped
4 Cloves Garlic

3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, peeled & sliced
1 medium onion, diced

8 cups chicken broth

1 tsp hot curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp white pepper

8 oz coconut milk
lime zest

Preheat oven to 450. Drizzle the eggplant, potatoes and garlic cloves with olive oil; season with salt & pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the chicken broth. Saute the celery, carrots and onion in olive oil until they begin to sweat. Add the spices and toast until the aroma comes out. Add the chicken broth and simmer until the roasted vegetables are done. Add the roasted vegetables to the soup mixture and simmer for about 15 minutes. Blend the soup and finish with the coconut milk & lime zest.

Sliders

2011-10-18T20:57:00.001-05:00

I had a good friend tell me once that french fries are a waste of eating space. While I appreciate the contributions of side dishes and desserts from our friends & family at the BBQ, my plate consisted of italian sausage, two chicken drumsticks and 4-6 sliders. I am a big fan of serving small portions for the BBQ, even the meat. It gives a chance for people to grab a bunch of everything rather than a giant burger or an entire brat. I like to slice the sausage into bite size pieces and even cut the buns in half. Drumsticks work great for the chicken, and this year we served sliders for the burgers.

The recipes are from the June 2011 issue of Cuisine at Home magazine.

For the sliders, we made a batch of brioche buns. Brioche is a yeast dough enriched with sugar, eggs and butter.

Make sure the butter, eggs and milk are at room temp do the dought isn't cold. Cold dough takes a long time to rise. Whisk together 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 3 eggs and 1/4 cup whole milk.

Combine 2/3 cup warm water (105-110), 1 Tbsp sugar and 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast. If the water is too hot, you'll kill the yeast; too cold and the yeast won't activate. Since brioche has a lot of sugar, the yeast has an ample food supply and will bubble.

Whisk together 4 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp salt.

Add the yeast and flour mixtures to butter mixture and knead on low speed with a dough hook attachment until dough is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about two hours.

Punch down dough to release any air, then divide into 1 oz portions. Cut the dough with a bench knife. Tearing it breaks the gluten strands, causing dense buns. Shape the dough into balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover buns with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about another 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 350. Whisk one egg and 1 Tbsp water. Brush tops and sides of dough balls with egg-water mixture; bake 20 minutes until golden brown. Cool before slicing.

For the sliders:

8 strips bacon, chopped and frozen

3 lb ground chuck

salt & pepper

5 cups sliced shallots, carmelized

12 slices cheese, quartered (we used swiss & cheddar)

Dill pickle slices

Pulse bacon in a food processor, then combine with chuck. Press meat mixture into a 11 1/2 X 16 1/2 inch baking sheet. Score meat with a bench knife into 48 portions.

Preheat oven to 250. Season patties with salt & pepper. Fry 1 batch of patties in a large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked on both sides, about 6 minutes total. Top each with 1 tsp shallots and cheese; transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

Toast 1 batch of buns, cut side down, in the same skillet until lightly toasted, about 30 seconds. Then repeat frying patties and toasting buns until all are cooked.

Serve the sliders on toasted buns with sliced pickles.

We couldn't cook these fast enough while people were dishing up. They were a hit!

Cherish It All

2011-10-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

I write this post with a heavy heart as we said goodbye to Alison, my best friend Stephanie's sister this weekend. I've decided to share since my friends and family who read this blog are many who generously donated towards my participation in Relay For Life in Alison's honor where I blogged about the experience here and here. Relay was something I'll never forget and I hope our team comes together again this summer in her memory.

Alison passed away peacefully with her family at her side as her body could no longer fight. Her service on Saturday was attended by many as all who have met Alison and her family fall in love with how likeable they are. The weather on Saturday was beautiful, perfect for Alison to be looking down on from heaven.

I took a bike ride yesterday morning in my Al's Pal's t-shirt and just savored the moment. With the holidays approaching, we all have so much to be thankful for. Cherish your health, your family, your friends. Everyday.

Rest in peace Alison. Your family will miss you dearly, but we all know you will be watching over them. And we as friends will keep hugging them tight.

End Of Summer BBQ - 3rd Year

2011-10-04T19:25:00.005-05:00

We threw our annual end of Summer BBQ in September. I think the first year we it we had about 40 people, this time we had about 25 throughout the day. It is a lot of work, but we both have so much fun planning the menu and let's face it - I love to throw a party. We pour over recipes the month before as we like to plan for things that are different than the usual bbq fare, with a few favorites mixed in. We prepped a lot Friday night which included making the dough for the brioche buns for the sliders.....yes from scratch and also Chris's idea. On Sat a.m., my husband was busy baking the buns in the kitchen and I was filling the coolers and setting up chairs. How is that for switching roles?

A few pics from the party are below. I'll save a separate entry for the sliders recipe and pics. They were the hit of the bbq and it is an entry I want Chris to write.

I thought my veggies were so pretty in my new Pampered Chef tray from my Mother in Law. My Mom made this Spicy Tomato Vegetable Dip which reminded me of a Bloody Mary. A nice switch from the usual vegetable dips.

Homemade Blueberry Salsa

Homemade Salsa. My favorite thing to make.

Italian Sausage Sandwiches.

Six lbs of italian sausage to be exact, with sauteed green peppers and onions.

Mandarin Orange & Oreo Salad

Toffee, Butterscotch & Chocolate Chip Bars. A simple Pillsbury recipe. In fact these were so good, people were asking my Mom if she made them since she is known to bring the baked goodies.

My favorite little boy.

With Mommy and Aunties

Chris finally bought his coveted basketball hoop for the house. I told him I better hear the sound of bouncing balls often if that thing has to take the front view of our house. I would say both of our Dads enjoyed it the most during the party as you can see them both below the hoop in the picture above. Liam really gripped that rim for his slam dunk!

The weather was rainy all morning but a pocket of sun came out just when the bbq started and stayed out until the sun went down. I was so happy that it was just warm enough where people could enjoy our deck and bar...a bit bundled up though.

Finally, for those of you that were asking about the pumpkin cupcakes, those were brought by Stephanie and here is the recipe: Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. Thanks to everyone who brought food, beer and came bearing gifts of wine!

Bring on the Fall Recipes

2011-10-02T19:59:00.000-05:00

October 1st marks the start of our slow cooker, chili and soup season. It is also the earliest that I can officially accept that summer is over. This was a productive weekend for us without any social commitments for once. Chris ran the Colorama 5K at Lapham Peak State Park on Saturday morning and I finally got back to the pool for some lap swimming (both days!). Chris watched the big WI sports games and I hit the stores for some Fall clothes and shoes shopping. Chris mowed the lawn and I decorated the inside of the house for the season. I also finally attended a mass at the church by our house after talking about it for years.

On the food front, butternut squash is back into our rotation. Tonight's recipe came from our September issue of Cooking Light: Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese. The kicker in this recipe is the Butternut Squash Bechamel sauce that takes place of the usual cheddar cheese sauce. I followed the recipe linked above pretty closely except I used gouda and fontina cheese in place of the gruyere, romano and parmigiano cheeses. Gruyere was over $10 at the grocery store and I was being cheap I guess! I also followed fellow blogger Nicole's tip and only baked the final dish for 12-15 minutes so that it stayed creamy. This recipe was definitely a keeper. Leftovers were plentiful so we will be eating it again and again this week.

After dinner I made this Carrot Chile and Cilantro Soup that we blogged about last season. It is now that time of year to replace the salads that we have been bringing for lunch with soups. On the menu later this week: White Chicken Chili.

I'm happy to have our fall/winter recipe box back in the limelight, but I'm still hoping for that Indian Summer I don't believe we've gotten yet!?

San Francisco - Part Two

2011-09-22T19:54:00.001-05:00

We headed to Mill Valley on Saturday morning for breakfast and some light shopping. We ended up at a place called Toast, a restaurant that the locals had recommended. Oh man was breakfast fantastic. We all were pleased with what we ordered. Toast was definitely tasty!

Beignets with orange maramalade and marscapone

Strawberry french toast

Apple cinnamon pancakes

Chicken chilaquiles with tomatillo sauce, sour cream & salsa

Chicken crepe with sun dried tomato pesto

Afterwards we stopped at Tyler Florence's store. We asked about Tyler and the ladies working there said that he had been there earlier that morning dropping off signed books. Forget spotting a movie star - my Mother in Law and I would have died if we had seen our sweet Tyler!

After Mill Valley we headed to our hotel in Berkeley. That night we attended a Bat Mitzvah for Chris' twin cousins. It was my first Bat Mitzvah. We admired all the hard work and dedication that went into the girls' preparation for it. They got to celebrate afterwards with all their friends too which looked like so much fun. I officially felt old around 50-75 thirteen year olds!

After a nice visit with their family the next day, we headed to Golden Gate Park and walked through the Japanese Tea Garden.

It was a short, perfect little trip just in time for our four year anniversary this month. Family time, food crawls, shopping, ferry rides and a little bit of Foreseason's history. Not bad!

San Francisco - Part One

2011-09-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

Earlier this month we headed west to San Francisco for a trip to see family. It was Erica's first visit to San Francisco. For me, it was a return to my birth place.

For the first leg of our trip, we stayed in Marin, north of the city. Our trip down memory lane took us by Marin General Hospital (where yours truly was born), and we visited my folks' first apartment in Larkspur. After the History of Chris tour was finished, we went over to Sausalito and got Erica her shopping fix.

Friday can be summed up with two words...tourism and food. In the morning, we took the ferry over to San Francisco. After that we spent the day posing for the camera.

Union Square.

Brunch started with a giant California-style slice of pizza.

Trolley ride in San Francisco. What a bunch of posers.

We took this trolley through the city to Fisherman's Wharf. From there the food parade continued.

Hot fudge sundae at Ghirardelli Square - paid for with $20 I found!

Fresh clam chowder in bread bowls from Boudin Bakery.

In the afternoon we took a tour of some of the sights in the city. Below are the famous "Painted Ladies" a la Full House, Erica's favorite show from her childhood.

Awesome photo of Erica in front of the Golden Gate bridge.

Finally we finished off the day at Scoma's seafood restaurant in Fisherman's Wharf. All the regular followers of this blog know Erica and I love to work with fish. There are certainly some great fish in Lake Michigan, but San Francisco offers an entirely different variety that you just can't get here, including crab and halibut.

Crab Risotto

Crab Ravioli

"Vacationing" in Lake Geneva, 2nd Round

2011-08-31T19:23:00.001-05:00

We went back to Lake Geneva this past weekend for more kayaking, camping and exploring the city. This time we left on Saturday a.m., got to Bigfoot Beach campground, setup camp, grilled brats for lunch and then took the same walk around the lake into town to rent our kayak. This time we rented from an outdoors store called Clearwater and we got the kayak for 4 hours. This kayak was more of a sit on top kind of kayak which I liked better since it was easier to get a tan! It was also easier for me to move around on this kayak and put my legs in the water for times when we would take a break and just float. This type of kayak was a bit slower since the bottom was flatter and also the water was a bit choppier this time around. There were definitely less partiers on the lake this weekend, I don't know if it was with school starting or what. Halfway through our trip we stopped at the beach again for a little swimming. It was a very relaxing day and a great workout.

Afterwards we walked back to our campsite, changed and then headed out to dinner since we also like to check out the restaurants. We ate at a place called Next Door Pub which came highly recommended by my parents. Most people were eating the stone fired pizza which I would definitely go back for, but our stomachs were hungrier for something more substantial so I got the lasagna (price $8.50!!) and Chris got the italian beef (price $5.95, plus $1.00 for french fries!). Their portions were huge and we couldn't get over how inexpensive everything was. Our last trip we ate dinner at Ryan Braun's and our $13 cheeseburgers didn't even compare to how delicious our meals at Next Door Pub were. Chris' sandwich below was packed with meat and very heavy!

After dinner, we got back to our campsite and started a fire. We were so full and tired that we only burned one bundle of the wood that we bought and hit the hay.

We really enjoyed the kayaking so much, that we are looking to buy kayaks this winter so that we can do small trips like this next summer. It is such a short getaway and makes all the difference in the world to just get out of town just for one night.

Eggplant Bites

2011-08-28T17:59:00.003-05:00

This recipe came from September's issue of Food Network magazine. The recipe can be found online here. We strayed from the recipe a bit and peeled the eggplant, used both yellow and red grape tomatoes, added salt, pepper & herbes de provence to the tomato mixture and then cooked the eggplant in a little oil on our griddle rather than deep frying it in a pan of oil. We made this as a side dish with a steak that we split. I can't get enough tomatoes in the summer and I usually like our side dishes better than the main dish, so I gave most of my steak to Chris and focused on the eggplant bites. I'll be honest, I did sort of miss the deep fried taste of the egglant, had we cooked it entirely in oil.....or maybe I just miss the State Fair!

Liam is One!

2011-08-24T16:00:00.001-05:00

Our nephew turned one this August....I know I write about him a lot, but he is just too damn cute. His Mom and Dad threw him a great birthday party with a Curious George theme. Perfect for our little curious guy. Anna pulled from her artsy skills and made him his own Curious George cake for smashing. Not sure if it was all the people staring and singing to him or what, but he was pretty hesitant. Guess he had more fun the next night smashing a cupcake with just his Mom and Dad around. Great party and holy cow, he got a lot of toys!!!

Hope your second year of life is as much fun as your first Liam!

Saucy!

2011-08-23T19:47:00.000-05:00

We like to play around with different sauces to serve with our meals. These two were very easy:

Avocado Dressing (adapted from Sept. Cooking Light magazine)
-1/2 cup light sour cream
-1 lemon (use zest and juice)
-1 avocado
-red pepper flakes
-kosher salt
-ground pepper

Place ingredients in processor and process until smooth. Season more as needed.

We served it with tilapia fish tacos and refried black beans.

Tangy White Sauce (adapted from Aug. Cuisine at Home magazine)
-1/2 cup mayo
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1 lemon (use zest and juice)
-1 garlic clove finely chopped
-1 tsp dijon mustard
-1 tsp worcestershire sauce
-cayenne pepper
-kosher salt
-ground pepper
-1/4 cup giardiniera peppers plus juice

Whisk together all ingredients but the giardiniera peppers. Puree giardiniera with the juice and then whisk into the sauce mixture.

We served this with grilled chicken & vegetable kabobs tonight and will definitely be making it again considering we have a whole jar of peppers left.

State Fair 2011

2011-08-16T16:45:00.000-05:00

I grew up attending the State Fair every year with my Dad and my sisters. It was the highlight of our summers. We would drive to Milwaukee early in the morning and spend all day at the fair eating, walking the expo centers, playing games and going on the rides. My Dad would buy a ton of tickets for the rides in advance and never spared any expense at keeping us entertained. The deal was that we got to spend a lot of time in the Midway as long as we spent a lot of time walking around and seeing other things too. The rides were so much bigger back in the day too - like the water log ride with the big drop, the toboggon run, the rollercoaster (I think it was called Zyclon?), etc. And we were always able to convince my Dad to buy the latest invention in the expo centers - like the chamois, the burning incense log houses, the ironing board cover (where you could flip the board and the iron wouldn't fall off), you name it.

It is a tradition we've tried to keep as sisters once we moved to Milwaukee too. Chris went with me the first year we were dating, but he decided it really wasn't his thing. He said I was a salesman's dream since I fall for all the sales gimmicks and demonstrations in the expo centers. lol.

However he actually decided to join me this year and we met up with Anna, Dan and Liam and our friend Brandon. I still need to teach him the tricks of the trade when it comes to the State Fair though because he ate a Goolsby's cheeseburger & tater tots right away and then was done eating. You have to eat your way through State Fair I say! We walked the Midway this year and looked at the rides and played some games. Chris was actually pretty good and won at the game where you whack the frogs into the lillypads and then dunked the clown at the softball dunk (which he said was the highlight).

Between Anna, Dan and I we sampled a corndog, cheese curds, deep fried oreos, all 5 kinds of the milk at the Herb Kohl center, a pork sandwich and then I had a taco before we left! Yikes.

It was a great time and fun to have Liam at his first State Fair too. I definitely like the State Fair better than Summerfest.

Catching Liam walking with Dad

Deep Fried Oreo

Torres Fam, Liam loves the Fair

Playing Games

Softball Dunk

Liam loved the light saber that Dan won (also the highlight of Chris' night)

This past Sunday Tara ran into the fair to buy a dress she had her eye on while Anna and I waited in the car. She came out with the dress and the deep fried smores and deep fried cheese on a stick. I would say I definitely got my sample of the fair foods this year!

Lake Geneva. A Little from Column A and a Little from Column B.

2011-08-10T08:14:00.002-05:00

We spent this past weekend in Lake Geneva and we absolutely loved it. A last minute trip just outside Milwaukee was just what we needed to get a break from being so busy on both the work and home fronts lately. We booked a campsite at Big Foot Beach State Park and had no agenda for the weekend but to relax and maybe swim and hike. We got to the campsite after work on Friday night, put up our tent and since it was late and we were starving, we headed into town to get something to eat. We ended up eating cheeseburgers at Ryan Braun's Tavern & Grill. While driving through downtown we realized how much stuff there was to do so we decided that maybe we would take advantage of having it and skip buying food that we would have to keep cold, charcoal and all the other necessities for grilling and just eat in town the next night too. After our dinner we headed to the 24 hour Walmart to get a few things we needed and then headed back to the campsite for bed. I'll admit I'm not much of an outdoors girl as I don't care for the bugs, outdoor toilets and dirty feet, but I LOVE sleeping outside in a tent. It is also helpful that we have a thick air mattress to sleep on too. The bugs, critters and animals were certainly loud when we went to bed though!

The next morning we left early and took a 2.5 mile walk around the part of the lake into town where the trail takes you through people's backyards and you get to admire all the huge lake houses, their docks and boats. I loved this part - so much better than a buggy hike! We ended up in the middle of downtown and decided to rent a tandum kayak for 2 hours. Chris has taken a few kayak classes and I joined him for one last year. I really only like to do it if we can rent a tandum kayak though. We worked well together in the kayak (we weren't so successful on a tandum bicycle in Door County) and even had time to stop on our trip to go swimming for a bit. The water was clean, clear and warm. After our kayak trip we ate lunch and then walked around the downtown shops and stopped for ice cream.

We took the 2.5 mile walk back to our campsite and we were completely sweating the whole way so when we got back we jumped in the lake again for some more swimming. By this point so many people were partying in their boats, docked, cranking the music and drinking. I was green with envy and couldn't take my eyes off of all these people. I told Chris I would have even paid an admission to get on one. Take note family: We are adding a boat to our xmas list this year!

Since we ate a large lunch and had ice cream, we decided to skip dinner and just ate the chips and salsa that I had made when we got back to the campsite. We decided a cold beverage was in order (our campsite prohibited alcohol) so we went to the Geneva Inn and had a drink on their patio. Ok, I'll admit we did buy a small amount of liquor after this and had 2 drinks at our campsite when we got back while sitting by the fire and then it was off to bed. It stormed on us Sunday morning but our little tent held up!!

Before we even left on Sunday we had already decided that we would try to get back again this month and stay at Big Foot again. We loved having the best of both worlds and being able to get the camping experience but also the flavor of being close to the city. It really is such a beautiful and relaxing city that we may book a hotel and come back for our anniversary in September too!

Deep thoughts by Mr. Foreseasons

Our walk around the lake

I rang the Miracle Bell and signed the guestbook

for this beautiful, inspirational garden along our walk.

Kayaking

I referred to this as the party barge. I want to be this person's friend!

I took this picture sitting across the street after our sweaty walk back while drooling.

Geneva Inn cocktail at sunset

Taken through the wine glass

Happy Belated Blog Post - Zarletti

2011-08-08T21:03:00.000-05:00

For Erica's birthday we went to Zarletti this year. This was the second year in a row I was traveling for work on Erica's birthday so I have to take her somewhere special to stay out of the doghouse. Zarletti's has consistently been among the top restaurtants in Milwaukee. We have wanted to try this place for a long time, but we always ended up choosing a new place or something else. It was a lot of fun eating out on the sidewalk downtown in the middle of summer. We almost felt a bit like a tourist.

We started out with two choices from the antipasti portion of the menu. Both were winners!

Parmigiana di Melanzane alla Griglia

Zarletti's version of the classic, made with grilled eggplant baked to perfection and served with garlic crostata .

Funghi Portobella alla Griglia
Grilled portabella mushroom topped with herbed goat cheese and fire roasted red peppers.

Zarletti specializes in northern Italian cuisine. The menu focuses on a variety of freshly prepared seafood, veal and homemade pasta, along with seasonal creations and daily house specialties.

Erica went with a seafood & pasta dish off the primi section of the menu; I ordered a veal entree from the secondi.

Fettucine Capasante al Pesto
Pan seared jumbo sea scallops over pasta tossed with pesto and topped with fire roasted peppers and toasted pine nuts. The scallops were seasoned & prepared very well. A perfect summer birthday meal.

Vitello al Limone Strauss
Veal cutlets pounded and lightly breaded and sautéed with a lemon pan sauce. Served with gorgonzola mashed potatoes.

For Erica's birthday we had to finish off the meal with dessert. And of course I can't finish an italian meal anymore without a shot of limoncello!

Thank you Zarletti for keeping me off of the couch. Happy birthday babe. I checked my schedule next summer, and I will be back in time for the real thing!

A Couple of Favorites

2011-08-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

The weekend came last Friday night and for once we had no plans. After a busy week at work we decided to open a bottle of red wine and sit on our deck. We ended up coaxing our friend Matt to come over and our glass of wine on the deck ended up into a beer run and lots of laughs with our favorite friend. Meanwhile my Saturday filled up as I made plans to swim with my sisters the next day and then my parents decided to come up to help Anna with Liam so she could enjoy some sun and pool time without worrying about him. I had been wanting to have my parents for dinner for some time now, so I told them to pick out anything from our blog and to plan on dinner at our house Sat night.

They picked this Apple Avocado Salad with Tangerine Dressing (a top 5 hit on our blog), BBQ Ribs and Mashed Potatoes with Sauteed Mushrooms.

My parents had helped Anna & Dan in the yard that day and they came ready to eat for their 6:30 reservation and finished everything on their plates. It was a lovely meal out on our deck as well. My Dad being the generous guy that he is picked up some patio chairs/stools to go with the bar he had purchased us last summer. We spent the remainder of the night rearranging the furniture on the patio and even moved a table up to the top deck for "loft seating". I can't wait to have our big summer bbq now! Then my Mom channeled her inner HGTV decorating skills and they both helped me rearrange and hang some photos. So I would say they definitely earned their meal!

They stayed overnight since Chris and my Dad were going to the Brewer game the next day and in the morning we had blueberry pancakes.

Thanks again Mom and Dad, we were so happy to have you!

Big Sunday Meal

2011-07-28T07:23:00.002-05:00

Chris came home this past weekend after being gone for a week taking a class on Notre Dame's campus for work, sleeping in a dorm room, eating cafeteria food and studying, studying studying.

A big Sunday meal was definitely in order: Surf & Turf! Grilled top sirloin with a coffe rub, shrimp with a white vinaigrette I had seen Bobby Flay make earlier that day, a layered Southwestern salad, and lemon-thyme biscuits (inspired by Food Network magazine).

Layered Southwestern Salad (adapted from August's Cuisine magazine):

-can black beans, rinsed

-1 green pepper diced

-1 orange pepper diced

-1 jalapeno diced

-3 cups corn (I used fresh corn, but next time I would just use frozen)

-3 cups shredded pepperjack cheese

-package grape tomatoes

For Vinaigrette:

-1/4 cup olive oil

-lime zest

-1/4 cup lime juice

-1/4 cup orange juice

-fresh cilantro

-2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

-1 tsp honey

-kosher salt

-pepper

Whisk vinaigrette ingredients together. Place beans in a separate mixing bowl and toss with 1/4 of the vinaigrette. Layer in a glass salad bowl. Next toss all the peppers with a 1/4 of the vinaigrette and layer on top of beans. Follow suit with the corn. Then layer the cheese. Finally toss the tomatoes in the remaining dressing and layer on top of salad.

This salad is pretty for serving in a glass bowl and it made a ton for us to bring in lunches this week.

For the lemon-thyme biscuits we totally cheated on the recipe and used Bisquick and then added lemon zest, lemon juice and fresh thyme from our backyard.

I guess you could say we were in a cooking mood since we also made a Berry Crisp for dessert using fresh blueberries, raspberries and walnuts. I am happy to have my partner home again!

Birthday Time!

2011-07-25T12:30:00.001-05:00

I celebrated another birthday this past Friday. We'll just say I'm somewhere in my thirties....

It was a wonderful birthday. I brought ice cream treats into work as I usually do and managed to meet my parents and their friends Candy & Lynn for my lunch hour that day. It was probably the first time I have seen my parents on my actual birthday since I was 17!! We ate lunch at Molly Cool's on the river and then I headed back to work. Thanks again for lunch Mom & Dad, it made the day more special!

After work I went for a boat ride on the Vista King for a happy hour cruise with my sisters and two girlfriends. The cruise was basically full and they had stopped selling tickets, but I think they saw five brunettes in dresses standing there and came back off the boat and let us on! Yay! $20 for a 1.5 hour cruise and bottomless drinks. Yes, please!

Afterwards we went to Irish Bar on Water & Erie for the first of what we thought would maybe be a couple of stops, but ended up staying all night! I always like this bar because the patio is great and this was one of our stops for my bachelorette party so it holds fun memories.

Chris and I celebrated the weekend before and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant called Zarletti on Milwaukee Street. It definitely wasn't Italy, but we got to sit outside and the food was great so it was pretty close! That will be a separate entry that Chris is going to write.

She is Done! Deck is Stained!

2011-07-24T19:33:00.000-05:00

It has been a labor of love and a lot of sweat, but the deck is finally stained. Chris worked for several days stripping and sanding the upper deck so that when it came time to stain it all, they both matched. I think he did a fantastic job!!! Many thanks to Tara and Anna for helping to do the rails on our first day and a very special thank you to our co-worker Jason and his friend who came over one night and cranked out the rails on the upper deck, including a lot of work on the lower part as well. After being screamed at by a homeless man earlier that day outside of work, Jason completely restored my faith in humanity by graciously offering to come over and help. He knew Chris was going to be out of town the following week and really wanted us to get it done so that I could enjoy it while he was gone. One of the nicest things someone has done for us and the guys wouldn't even take anything in return. They said it was the christian thing to do and it will come back around someday. So sweet, so thanks again guys!

We ate dinner on it together tonight and it was heavenly.

The Millers Do The O.C.

2011-07-20T12:25:00.003-05:00

I had the Millers over for dinner on Tuesday for a 6:30 reservation since Chris was out of town. Tara is one of our "biggest fans" and always leaves comments on our blog about having her over for dinner besides the usual holidays and bbq's, so I decided it was about time. She usually comments on our Fishy Monday recipes and the chickpea side dishes so I picked the recipes from this blog entry to make them: Salmon Fillets with Tzatziki and Mediterranean Barley

So, I was on my own with the entire meal. I had to call Chris to double-check I was cooking the fish correctly, but the entire meal turned out perfectly if I do say so myself! I added a few things to the mediterranean salad this time (cucumber, fresh basil & mint, white wine vinegar) and it was REE-ALLY good. I have been watching Food Network Star this season and as I was making the salad last night, I was thinking that if I had a show, my point of view would have to be salads and side dishes as I can rock those out no problem. It is cooking the protein/main dish that I need some practice with. But my guests ate every bite so I must have been successful!

The Millers are downtowners so getting out to the O.C. doesn't happen very often as things are usually happening downtown and we are always visiting them instead. I think this dinner was at the perfect time, since they just purchased a home and will now be living the suburban life as well. Miller checked out the inside and outside of my house and saw things he had never noticed before now that he is a homeowner (big things like our lawn and that we have 3 full bathrooms that I have to keep clean). lol.

We had finished staining the deck this past weekend (pics to come) so this was the first meal on our newly stained deck.

After dinner, we drove through the neighborhood and I took them to our favorite local spot Georgie Porgie's for ice cream. This is really the only food spot in the O.C. that Chris and I like - great sandwiches, ice cream, everything - plus it is the cutest place - you should check it out! We sat outside and ate our sundaes and then my guests headed back downtown.

Thanks for coming and keeping me company Millers! I hope you enjoyed your visit to the suburbs and got to relax!!!

Restaurant Review: INdustri Cafe

2011-07-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we had a Groupon & checked out Industri Cafe near the Third Ward on South 2nd. This was our second experience and our first for dinner. I am really pulling for this place to succeed. Both times the food here has been top notch. They serve up American cuisine and it is always fun to go to a place that suprises you with new twists on classic dishes. For a couple appetizers, we ordered lobster sliders and polenta-bacon griddle cakes. The lobster meat was fresh & sweet, and they were made with a balsamic aioli. I love polenta and this was a great brunch dish, even with dinner.

For our entrees, I ordered a pork tenderloin and Erica tasted the hanger steak. The pork tenderloin was coffee crusted and cut nicely with a sweet sauce. Erica went the more savory route. The hanger steak was grilled medium-rare and was served with a bleu cheese butter, coffee stout veal demi, and served with poblano potatoes o'brien.

I love desserts at nice restaurants. To me, they are often the most creative part of the meal. We first learned about INdustri Cafe at the cupcake showdown a couple months ago. They took first place that day and their dessert chef is a Cedarburg High School alum. We sampled a caramel sea salt gelato and peanut butter brownie cake. We did not do this on purpose, but the two ended up complimenting each other perfectly. You must try the desserts here. They take a lot of pride in them and they are as unique & tasty as you will find.

Industri Cafe is one of these new restaurants in Milwaukee taking advantage of facebook and twitter. We have been here twice now and everything I have tasted here has been a great dining experience. They know how to prepare good food. It is exciting when you discover a new place that you know will end up on your regular list. It does not happen often. Fun atmosphere, reasonable prices and above all exciting food. Check INdustri Cafe out because Milwaukee has a good one on their hands.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-06T13:15:00.006-05:00

Great holiday weekend! Maybe it is because my birthday is in July, but every year when July rolls around, I get excited. With 4th of July, Summerfest and hot weather, the month of July always makes it finally feel like Summer has arrived. This is my favorite time of the year.

We kept busy this weekend starting with a bbq at Anna & Dan's on Friday night. We each brought something to share to eat so had a lot of food. We even had a bonfire later at night even though it was pretty warm out! I made a strawberry & avocado salsa inspired by a friend who had posted a recipe for it on her facebook page (thanks Katie Doc!). I chopped up a carton of strawberries, sliced 3 avocados, diced 3 roma tomatoes, 1 jalapeno, a bunch of cilantro, lime juice and kosher salt. I didn't take any pictures unfortunately!

Sat a.m. Tara, Anna and I went to Cool Waters to share our favorite thing to do in the Summer with Liam - Sun & Swimming! Liam was a little hesitant at first (maybe sensory overload) but he was loving it by the end. Thank God as it is something the 3 of us love to do together and he will add a little spice to our pool fun. Cool Waters was great since the water starts out very shallow like a beach and there are lots of fountains, splash zones and things to entertain kids. Adults too as Tara & Anna went down the slide. lol.

Having fun now

With Mommy

And with his Aunties

Kids at heart

After the pool I was headed home to get ready for Summerfest. We tried to see Maroon 5 but it was just way too packed. I've finally come to terms and agree with Chris that Summerfest is just too busy after 10:00 at night. I did get to see Adam Levine up on the jumbo screen and hear their encore "Sunday Morning" which was enough for me. We got there around dinnertime and our first order of business was a Major Goolsby's cheeseburger. We look forward to it every year. If you are at State Fair or Summerfest you must get one. There must be something about this burger at festivals, because they are way better than when you eat at the restaurant. Chris got the double bacon cheeseburger and said he was in his own world eating it.

Next order was brownie sundae from Cedar Crest.

On Sunday we headed to Cedarburg to Chris' parents for dinner and to stay overnight to run/walk a 5K the next morning. Well, Chris ran the 5K. The walk was only a 1.2 mile and I did that along with Chris' parents.

Chris' parents made an impressive dinner for us the night before which was so delicious I am still thinking about it. Caprese Beef Tenderloin and Garlic & Oil Spaghetti. You serve the tenderloin on toasted bread which is a great idea as it soaks up all the juices. We might just have to do this every time. To me, there is nothing better than fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella so this meal was right up my alley. For dessert, Chris' Dad made homemade shortcake with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. The shortcake had almonds in it which really topped it off for me. Perfect dessert for the 4th of July!! I'll let the pictures do the talking of just how good this meal was....

On Monday the 4th, we headed back home and worked in the yard, etc. We are trying to stain our deck this summer and Chris has been working very hard each weekend to get everything stripped and sanded. I will post pics once we have it stained! I can't wait to have our big summer bbq when it is done as well.

All that yard work was worth it since we planned a big dinner of bbq chicken, sweet corn and a bacon & green bean potato salad with a dijon based vinaigrette.

We finished off our weekend watching the fireworks. Neither of us could remember the last time we had seen fireworks where we were actually sitting on a blanket. It seems like we are always somewhere doing something and watching the fireworks at the same time. It felt great to relax and watch them. It was also great to watch them in our own community. I think it will have to be a must for years to come! I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday as well!

Back to Work Already?

2011-07-05T10:06:00.002-05:00

A little something to make you laugh on this "Monday" morning after such a fun holiday weekend.

I promise you will laugh.

Little Liam Loves The Fan:

June is Over?!

2011-06-30T06:00:00.015-05:00

Just a sampling of what we've been up to so far this Summer. Can't believe June is already here and gone. It's been great so far despite the weather and these pictures are just too cute not to share!

Family pic together for a wedding at Rotary Gardens in Janesville

Milwaukee's Pedal Tavern.

2 hours, 4 bars, multiple drinks and tons of fun!

BBQ/Reunion with old high school friends.

Memorial Day BBQ at Anna & Dan's. Liam has since gotten a better pool, I promise.

We've also gotten to spend a lot of time with our nephew Liam now that they live just 6 miles away!!! He is crawling now and is a little Curious George.

Summer Grillin

2011-06-28T12:47:00.001-05:00

After a full day of working outside in the yard on Sunday, two days uninterrupted with no rain and being able to grill out & use our fresh herbs, we feel like Summer is officially here.

We made our traditional big Sunday meal the other night and we made Carolina Style BBQ Chicken found in our Food Network magazine. The base of it was yellow mustard and instead of bone-in chicken (which I don't like) we just split a boneless chix breast. Quite tasty. We split a chicken breast because we really increased our food intake with the sides we made to serve with it. We made macaroni and cheese using a simple recipe found online. It wouldn't be a true summer grilling experience if we didn't also make baked beans. Chris came up with the baked beans recipe:

-5 strips bacon
-1 medium red onion, diced
-2 cans Bush's Grillin Beans
-1 can diced tomatoes, drained
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-2 tbsp dijon mustard
-2 tbsp ketchup
-springs of fresh thyme
-1 can French's fried onions

Fry the bacon and crumble. Saute the onion next. Combine in a dutch oven with the remaining ingredients (except fried onions). Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Once out of the oven, add the fried onions for a little crunch. This made a ton and we will be eating it with other meals planned for this week.

For Fishy Monday this week we grilled salmon and made a salsa with mango, red onion, yellow & red tomato, fresh mint and basil to top it with. We also served it with some boiled red potatoes with fresh chives and a salad with toasted chick peas and spinach. I was inspired by a recipe I found in our Cooking Light magazine so used the base of it to come up with my own salad. I am loving anything with chick peas in it these days it seems. It was a healthy and colorful meal!

Toasted Chickpea Salad:
-1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
-ground cumin
-olive oil
-orange zest
-1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar
-1.5 tbsp fresh orange juice
-kosher salt
-ground pepper
-vertically sliced red onion
-1 nectarine sliced
-1 mango sliced
-handful grape tomatoes, sliced
-fresh basil
-fresh mint
-bunch fresh spinach

Preheat oven to 450. Place chickpeas in roasting pan, season with cumin (I use A LOT) and coat with olive oil. Roast for 20 mins. Combine and whisk 2 tbsp olive oil, orange zest, vinegar, OJ, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in onion, nectarine, mango, tomatoes, basil & mint. Add warm beans and spinach tossing to combine.

Strawberry Shortcake

2011-06-23T08:26:00.001-05:00

Is there anything that Bisquick can't do?!?!

Relay For Life Hartford/Slinger - Recap

2011-06-21T18:30:00.001-05:00

The Relay For Life event was this past Friday. It was humbling, inspiring, heart-warming, emotional and a whole other slew of things that I cannot put into words. Alison had gotten the results of her most recent scan that day and hadn't gotten the news that they were hoping for. She has plateaued in the chemo treatments and her team of doctors are recommending that they stop the treatment for now and let her body rest and wait to attack the cancer cells in the lungs if they grow larger. At this point, they are most likely going to go to Mayo Clinic in MN to get a second opinion. With that news, it made the Relay event that much more meaningful and worth it to continue to raise money for cancer research.

Alison had two teams there to Relay on her behalf. Our team Al's Pals managed to keep someone on the track walking the entire time! Part of our incentive was that there were some prizes to be won (which our Team didn't win to my knowledge), but also because I think we wanted to finish and know we gave it 100%.

There was an opening ceremony at 6:00 p.m. and the cancer survivors all were the first to walk the track. Halfway through their walk, they played a Happy Birthday song since Relay's theme is raising money for cancer research that helps continue to create more birthdays. During this song, the survivors all let go of a balloon that floated up and away together in the air. It was so beautiful and brought on the waterworks to say the least. The walk then started and continued until 9:30 p.m. when they then had a Luminaria ceremony. They turned off all the lights in the stadium and all these bags with candles inside of them that were personalized in memory or in honor of those whose lives have been affected by cancer lit up the area. Again, very touching and beautiful. The word Hope was spelled out on the field.

The survivors again walked the track first and then the Relay continued. I got on the track for the first time and walked in the dark along the candle-light for about two hours. I listened to my music on my IPod and thought about Alison's journey, about life and about how much I have to be thankful for - my health, my husband, my family and my wonderful friends. It felt great.

Our Team dwindled throughout the night, but Alison's sisters rallied on along with a few other team members and carried our team until 4:30 a.m. when Alison's Mom showed up to take over. After 3.5 hours of sleep I got back on the track at 5 a.m. and walked for another 2 hours. Note to self: buy new tennis shoes as my toes are still hurting today!

Overall it was a great event filled with plenty of things to keep people occupied. Bean bag & washers tournaments, a silent auction, bouncy house & face painting for children, and bingo. In the morning the Milwaukee Brewer sausages showed up and the girls and I also got free massages (my first massage ever). The last hour of the day they had a "dude looks like a lady" contest to raise more money and it was really enjoyable to watch how many guys had gotten into it!

The entire event raised over $173,000! Our team managed to raise about $2,500 in total. On behalf of Alison, Al's Pals and especially myself, I cannot thank you all enough for donating.

Signs for Alison

With Al's Sisters and my friends Steph & Christy

Sheena made her tutu. She always brings the fun!

Luminaria Ceremony

The track

On about 8 hours of sleep combined but still laughing and smiling.

To my dear friends the Schmeling family - you are all so special to me and are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Wedge Salad

2011-06-20T19:19:00.001-05:00

Instead of the typical bleu cheese dressing that is served with a wedge salad, we made a dressing using a recipe from the June issue of Cooking Light as inspiration. I love to make dressings rather than buy the bottled variety and we usually eat more of the italian or vinegar/oil type dressings, but this creamy dressing with fresh herbs was perfect for this type of salad.

Ingredients:

-1 cup greek yogurt

-1/2 cup mayo
-2 tsp worcestershire
-juice from 1 lemon
-couple dashes of tabasco
-1 tsp anchovy paste
-1 garlic clove, minced
-fresh parsley
-fresh chives
-salt & pepper

Place all ingredients in blender and process until smooth.

Fishy Monday - Cedar Plank Salmon

2011-06-17T07:52:00.001-05:00

The cedar planks we are using were part of a wedding gift almost 4 years ago and they still work like a charm. We let the cedar plank soak in water all day, then season up the salmon, put it on the plank skin side down and grill covered for about 20 minutes.

This time we served it some some red potatoes with arugula and dijon-shallot vinaigrette. We've been making these potatoes for a few years and they are adapted from a Cuisine at Home magazine back in 2007. I love arugula and anything with dijon mustard so I think they are the best.

Ingredients (serves 2):

-red potatoes, skin on, quartered

-1 shallot, diced

-3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

-2 Tbsp olive oil

-1 Tbsp dijon mustard

-1 tsp sugar

-salt & pepper

-arugula

Boil potatoes in salted water for about 8 minutes. Drain and spread on baking sheet and place in fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.

Whisk shallot, vinegar, oil, dijon, sugar, salt & pepper together in large bowl and set aside.

Saute chilled potatoes in a heated cast iron skillet with some olive oil over medium heat in 1 layer until browned on 1 side, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper while sauteeing. Turn potatoes and continue to brown until crisp, about 10 more minutes.

Toss warm potatoes with vinaigrette and arugula until coated. We had some extra vinaigrette which I poured over the green beans as well.

A Fruitful Summer, So Far

2011-06-15T06:54:00.000-05:00

Well the vacation recaps are over, so back to food blogging! We've been buying a lot of fruit now that summer is here and things are ripe and reasonably priced. Chris made a cobbler one night with blueberries and strawberries and made a homemade whipped topping!

And I kid you not, one morning before work he made us french toast using some fresh honey wheat bread I had boughten at a neighbor's bake sale, with a side of fresh fruit and sausage. I've got it good...

Italy, Day 8 - Our Last Day

2011-06-12T20:24:00.003-05:00

We started out our final day in Rome by going to Campo de' Fiori and the food market. I would love to be able to go to a market like this every day to buy fresh fruit, vegetables and spices. We took some beautiful pictures and I enlarged several of them to hang in our kitchen.

We then headed over to the Colosseum. We paid for a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Again, the tour was worth every penny because we got to skip the line and otherwise you really have no idea what you are looking at, especially the Roman Forum. Our tour guide really knew his stuff and he was also really funny too which made it more interesting. At the end of our tour he gave some of his recommendations for places to eat and drink. Places where he actually eats because most of the restaurants he said are "rubbish" and geared towards tourists. We ate at a place he recommended that night and it was fantastic and so reasonably priced. I wish we had found him sooner on our trip!

The gladiators would wait here to enter in to fight. We both got chills walking through it.

Afterwards we walked to a nearby church and I said a prayer and lit a candle. I had been meaning to do that our whole trip.

Then we headed to the piazza by the Pantheon and ordered a carafe of red wine and just relaxed and soaked in our final day.

We ate dinner at a place called Pantharei recommended by our tour guide earlier that day. It was delicious in every way. Our waitress was so giggly and cute and said "of course" to everything we asked.

Focaccia with mozzarella, tomatoes and arugula

Pasta Amatriciana

The sauce was made with tomatoes, bacon and a red wine reduction. Both of these were the best pasta dishes I have ever tasted in my life. Our waitress said that when you are in Rome you have to eat pasta amatriciana.

Fettuccine with Mushrooms

Like I said, it was damn good!

Nutella dessert

We took our last walk through Rome back to our hotel and packed up to catch our flight for our 17 hour ride home. It was an AMAZING trip in every way!!!!!

Relay for Life

2011-06-08T08:35:00.002-05:00

Dear friends and family,

I am registered for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of Hartford/Slinger on June 18th. I am participating in this event in honor of the sister of my dear friend Stephanie. I'm sure many of you know her as my loud (like me), fun and very personable friend with the kind heart who is forever the caretaker of all her friends. She was also a bridesmaid in my wedding for those of you who may not know her. Her sister's name is Alison and the type of cancer she has is called Synovial Sarcoma cancer. It is a soft tissue cancer that starts as a mass and typically spreads to the lungs. She was diagnosed on Christmas Eve after having an MRI done for pain in her hip that she had been having since last spring. The MRI revealed a cancerous tumor on the side of her hip about 30 cm long. Unfortunately that was not the only bad news, after some more tests, they discovered that the cancer had spread into her lungs. She started chemo immediately on her lungs and after several rounds of chemo the mass in her lungs decreasing.

Alison is my age and married to Corey, her high school sweetheart. They have two daughters, Elly & Hannah who are amazing. I have been honored to spend a lot of time with Stephanie's entire extended family over the years through boating at her aunt's house, various celebrations and more recently preparing for Steph's wedding and standing up as a bridesmaid with her sisters. They are a family of three girls similar in ages to Tara, Anna and I so I felt an instant connection right away.

I am proud to have jumped on board with Alison's sisters in the Relay for Life to raise money for cancer and rally for Alison. When our team captain (her sister Christy) registered online, we were issued a fundraising web page. It explains what Relay For Life is and why we chose to get involved. My own web page also has my fundraising goal and how much money I've raised so far.

My Web Page

Our Team's Web Page

I'm putting this out there not only to raise some money to fight back against cancer, but also to spread the word about Alison and add some more people to her prayer chain. If anything, maybe this email will remind you to make each day count.

Your donation will help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. The amount you donate will count towards our team's fundraising goal.

Thank you so much for your help!

Warm regards,

Erica

Italy, Day 7 - Holy Moly.

2011-06-06T18:27:00.000-05:00

We had scheduled on this day to take a tour of the Vatican. We booked online ahead of time through Dark Rome Tours and while it was more expensive than just paying the 12 euro to get into the Vatican, you also got to skip the lines to get in which was worth every penny since the wait can be over 2 hours. We also recommend paying extra for a tour because otherwise you truly have no idea what you are looking at and it means so much more to have someone walk you through it all and point out what is meaningful and then explain it in depth too. Not to mention, you cannot talk in the Sistine Chapel. This is where the tour guide was the most handy because there are boards outside in the courtyard of the inside of the chapel and they take the time to explain exactly what Michaelangelo was creating during those 4 years it took him to paint the cieling, so that when you go in it is so much more breathtaking. Our pictures will hardly do the place any justice, but we'll give it a shot anyway.

The Courtyard

Maps/Layout of the Sistine Chapel since you cannot take pics or talk once inside of it. The guides take the time to explain it all so it means a bit more when you walk in, rather than just "ooh and ahh".

This is inside the Vatican museums and I thought this ceiling was neat since it looks 3-D or like it is sculpted, but is actually painted.

The Vestal Virgin Mary

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Here is Michaelangelo's La Pieta sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion. It is now behind bulletproof glass since some crazy shot at it in the 70's. Mary would have been in her 50's here, but Michaelangelo made her very youthful as he believed she never aged.

This next picture is on the floor of the Basilica and is Pope John Paul II's family crest. When he was shot back in the 80's, he should have died since the bullet was so close to his heart. Since he survived, he believed that it was the Virgin Mary who intervened and saved him, so he added the "M" for Mary to his family crest. Mary is the name of my Grandma who passed away this year and she strongly believed in the power of religion, so that story really resonated with me and I had hoped at that moment she was looking over us during our tour that day as she would have just loved to have seen the Vatican.

These next few pictures were taken standing in St. Peter's Square. We didn't see the Pope, but on Wednesday's he does do a mass here. This is the balcony you always see him on.

I'm feeling quite European here!

The tour was 3 hours and our dogs were barking afterwards, all our walking was catching up to us I think. We took the subway back to our hotel and proceeded to take a 3 hour nap. We woke up refreshed and headed to the rooftop bar/lounge at our hotel for some lunch and wine. We were on Italy eating hours by this time as it was almost 5:00 by the time we ate lunch. Good thing our hotels served a complimentary breakfast each morning! We both had caprese sandwiches again, this time on bread with the crusts cut off. Like little tea sandwiches.

We walked around the city some more and ended up at a place for dinner called Ristorante Il Miraggio, a Sardian restaurant. We stumbled upon it, but it also happened to be recommended in our Frommer's guidebook. We got a great table outside, ordered a bottle of red wine and had really great service. Chris had the spaghetti alla bottarga with roe sauce (fish eggs). It was way too fishy for me, but he liked it. I had the risotto with cream of scampi. Of course we ordered dessert as well. Chris had the tiramisu and I had tartufo nero (choc gelato, hazelnut and cocoa powder).

After dinner we stopped at our favorite piazza near the Pantheon again to hangout and listen to music.

Day 6: When in Roma

2011-06-01T22:05:00.006-05:00

Day 6 started out saying "ciao" to Positano & the Amalfi Coast. It has got to be one of the most beautiful parts of the world, and we will always have amazing memories. You cannot replace waking up to the Mediterranean, but it was hardly time for sad good byes. We were starting the second part of our voyage to the city of Rome. We took the train from Naples to Rome. Normally a three hour car ride was an hour by train. Erica napped & I met a nice Romanian couple touring Europe (from Long Island - my Mom's hometown - small world).

We stayed at the Hotel Victoria Roma in a cental neighborhood named Via Veneto. After arriving we took a walk through the Villa Borghese just two blocks from our hotel. It is the largest park in Rome; kind of their version of Central Park. The weather was gorgeous that day (like every other day), and we sat at a small cafe for a couple caprese salads.

The rest of the day was walking, walking, walking!

Overlooking the Piazza del Popolo

We headed down to the famous Spanish Steps and the Piazza di Spagna.

There are over 300 churches in Rome and many are built around piazzas where congregations would gather. Much of the nightlife and crowds revolve around these areas, and the architecture throughout the city is incredible. We really enjoy visiting big cities so we instantly felt very comfortable in Rome. Almost a cross between a big city like New York, the architecture of D.C., and with a lot of italians. And much like New York, the city has a great vibe and is very trendy.

Our next major stop was the Trevi Fountain. Erica threw a penny into the Fountain, which means you will return to Rome someday. If the weather in Wisconsin stays like this, I will be going back this weekend. We took some pictures during the day and then stopped back later once it got dark.

We did manage to stop for another round of gelato during the day as well. This was Erica's dish and it was cherry and strawberry flavors.

We stopped for a pizza in the Piazza Navona. This is one of the larger and more popular piazzas in the city. It is full of artists, street performers, large crowds and tourist trap cafes. At this point, we were more interested in a glass of red wine than where we ate dinner.

Our final sight for the day was the Pantheon and the Piazza Della Rotonda. The Pantheon was built in 27 B.C. Think about that. Over 2000 years old! The Piazza Della Rotonda had to be my favorite spot in Rome. It was very lively at night and there is something so cool about drinking wine and listening to music in front of a structure that is older than Jesus!

We had walked around for 9 hours that day so we headed back to the hotel to crash as we had tickets for a tour of the Vatican the next day at 9 a.m.

Italy, Day 5: Capri

2011-05-26T20:28:00.003-05:00

Hello again! Welcome to day 5. I’ll warn you that this post is going to be very picture heavy. I’ll do my best to describe our day in Capri, but I think the pictures will mainly say it all. Plus I can’t decide which ones to not include!

While planning our trip, I got a lot of good information from Ali and Jason who had recently been to Italy. They recommended this private boat tour in Capri with a guy named Gianni Tedesco. Ali said it was one of the most memorable things they have ever done and they got some of their best pictures of their trip from this day. Well that sold me, so Capri became one of our destinations and a boat day with Gianni was scheduled. We had originally planned it for our 4th day and then we woke up to rain. I was so glad we were able to reschedule as I would have been so sad if we weren’t able to experience this. I really wanted this day in our memories.

So, this was a private tour with just Chris, myself, Gianni and his boat. We did a 3 hour tour of the island and Gianni pointed out all of the interesting places of the Capri coast, including stopping in the middle of the Mediterranean so we could just relax and tan.

Unlike all the tours that people were pedaling in the marina, Gianni actually takes the boat into each of the caves or grottos and stops to tell the story or legend about it. Whereas we could see the other boat tours just going by each attraction, staying 50 feet away, not even stopping, but rather hurrying to get back to the marina to get more people. Another reason this was better than any other group tour is that we were able to bring our own wine on the boat!

This lighthouse was WAY up there!

I think this was the Baby Blue Grotto

I bought the sandals and swimsuit cover-up in Positano!

It was a bit windy that day, but the sun was shining so that helped. Gianni was actually wearing a coat at one point. lol. I knew we had to jump into the Mediterranean as could not let an opportunity like that go by. Gianni said we could stop at the Green Cave and we could go swimming. As we eyed the water, he said the best thing to do is just to jump in. I knew I had to do that because if I so much as put a toe in to test the water I would have never done it. So I plugged my nose and jumped right in. I would compare my reaction when I hit the water to something like Clark Griswold’s in National Lampoon’s Vacation when he jumps into the cold water at the hotel and wakes everyone up. Haha, I’m cracking up remembering this as I write! Chris jumped in after me (after dipping his toe in). Gianni handed us our wine for the picture while we were shivering and screaming and we got right back out. But, hey at least we did it!

Its good luck to kiss under the Arco Naturale (its way up top)

Heading back into the marina with Capri in the background

In Gianni’s own words, he is a “Capri fanatic” and takes pride in showing his couples the beauty of the island. His tour was worth every euro! If you ever visit Capri, I would put Gianni Tedesco’s Boat Tours on your list of “absolutely must do’s”. You can find more information about Gianni's Boat here: http://www.capri.net/it/c/gianni-s-boat-2. My only regret is that we didn't take a picture of you, Gianni!

At this point, I’m going to flip-flop and go back to earlier that day. We took the ferry to Capri and had about two hours to spare before our boat ride. We decided to see what we could of Capri during this time and we set off on foot. During our walking we noticed lots of little white convertibles driving people around. We were walking up a hill and this older man stopped his car and asked us if we wanted a tour of the island. Ah-ha, so that is what those convertibles are doing! We agreed on the length of the tour and a price and hopped in the little convertible. I giggle every time I think of this cute, little Italian man driving us around those cliffs, stopping to point out the great views, taking our picture and even pointing out where he lived. He took us around Capri and Anacapri and even gave us time to walk around the streets of Anacapri for some shopping and walk down to the beach in Capri. We would have never covered as much ground if we hadn’t done that tour. It was another memorable experience for us. What could be better than being driven around like that and feeling the sun on your face in such a beautiful place?!

Down by the beach with the famous rock formation The Faraglioni in the background

Here was the driver and tour guide. So cute!

This is a food blog so I’ll get to the food part of this post. For lunch that day we grabbed caprese sandwiches again at a take-away deli in Anacapri while walking around. We were going to eat them on the boat, but decided to eat them standing while we were waiting to meet Gianni as we were too hungry. This is the reason why I never got a picture of the sandwich this day either! It was just as heavenly the second time. After our boat tour, we took the ferry to Sorrento because we missed the ferry back to Positano and then we had to take the bus from Sorrento to Positano. It took 3 hours to get back to our hotel with all the waiting and riding! We ate dinner at a place called Chez Black on the beach in Positano. This was another tourist trap (with names on the plates), but again you are paying for the location and the opportunity to eat on the beach. Chris ordered the lasagna and I got a penne pasta with eggplant. Both items we have made better at home so I’m not going to bother posting the pictures because this blog is getting long. I will rave about the caprese salads we ordered however!

This was our final day on the Amalfi Coast so after dinner we headed back up the 211 steps to our room to pack our belongings because a car service was picking us up at 7:30 the next morning to take us to the train station in Naples so we could catch the train to Rome! Next up: Our first day in Rome.

Italy, Day 4

2011-05-25T07:38:00.001-05:00

We woke up on our 4th day in Positano to rain. Boo! This was actually the first time we have been on vacation where it rained. We had a boat ride in Capri scheduled for this day, but fortunately I was able to email the guy and postpone it until the next day, so we flip-flopped the two days and decided to visit Ravello instead. As we got ready that day, the rain stopped and the sun started to shine, although it was cool and that wind was a blowin'. For lunch, we grabbed Caprese sandwiches at a take-away deli and ate them while we waited for the ferry. We had to take a ferry to Amalfi and then catch a bus to Ravello. Back to these caprese sandwiches...OMG....these were my absolute favorite. Imagine large slices of tomato, fresh thick slices of mozzarella and fresh basil with olive oil drizzled on top and served between flatbread. Yum, I wish I could eat one now just writing about them. I know they are pretty easy to duplicate here at home, but something tells me it still won't taste the same. These just had that "Italy" flavor I guess! We ate caprese sandwiches for lunch 3 different days and somehow didn't manage to take a picture either!

Arriving in Amalfi on the ferry

The rain seemed to follow us that day and it picked up again as soon as we arrived in Amalfi and were waiting for the bus. It stopped again on our way to Ravello but then started up again as soon as we got to Ravello. It was rainy or misty throughout the entire day but we forged ahead and continued to explore.

Ravello is a town on the Amalfi Coast that is higher up in the mountains and is a terrace over the sea, overlooking the villages of Minori and Maiori. It is more of a quiet town and is perfect for a day visit.

Beautiful View!

Our original plan for visiting Ravello was to take a hike down to Minori, but we decided it wasn't the safest thing to be hiking down steep trails in the rain. So, we wandered around the town and came upon The Gardens of Villa Cimbrone. The Villa dates back to the 11th century when it belonged to a noble family and was later restored in 1904 and then used as a family home in the 1960's. These days, there are some guest rooms available for overnight stays.

The Terrace of Infinity

The Hortensia Avenue

We also visited Villa Rufolo which is right in the center of Ravello. It dates back to the 13th century and since 1975 has been a public building. The most beautiful part of this villa was the two level gardens. The upper garden looks out across the lower gardens which was the site for music concerts back in the day, complete with a stage projecting out over the sea. It is now the site for Ravello Festival every summer. There was a concert scheduled for that night, but not until 9:00 and it was too cold to hangout there all day, plus we didn't know how we would have gotten back to Positano. Bummer!

Pic of a concert in the gardens

I know it seems like I'm in a lot of the photos, but Chris is the photographer of us two!

The rain and wind had picked up by now and poor Chris was soaking wet with no fleece or coat, so we decided to head back to home-base. We caught the bus and winded around down the cliffs to get back to Amalfi. We thought about walking around Amalfi, but we didn't get the best vibe from the place while hanging around the marina (it seemed unfriendly and dirty?), so we decided to just take the bus back to Positano as we had missed the last ferry.

It was after 8:30 by the time we got to our hotel, so we changed into dry, warm clothes and headed up the stairs from our hotel in search of an authentic pizza place. Rosita had recommended a Pizzeria called Il Saraceno D' Oro. This place was what we had been searching for. We wanted to find a family owned restaurant, with Mom, Dad & the rest of the family running the front of the house and Grandma cooking in the back! I think this was pretty close to that. Warm, cozy atmosphere, very casual AND not touristy!

I ordered a pizza with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and rocket (or arugula). It was very light and very fresh (perfect for a meal being eaten at 9:30 at night....especially when you eat it all but one piece)!

Chris ordered a calzone filled with ham, cheese and tomato sauce.

As usual, it was after 10 by the time we finished dinner, so we drank the free Limoncello we were served and and then we walked back down the steps to our hotel and headed off to bed. Our boat trip in Capri was the next day at 1:30 and we needed to be ready to catch the ferry by 10 a.m. Next up: Our day in Capri including a private boat ride around the island and a convertible ride through Capri and Anacapri!

Cookies, Bars and Cupcakes Oh My!

2011-05-23T21:58:00.001-05:00

The Cookies for Kids' Cancer event was this past weekend and it successfully raised over $2,100 for cancer pediatric research. Glad Products matched this amount and Milwaukee was able to contribute $4,200 to the organization! We enjoyed volunteering our time for the day and gazing at all the goodies, including coming home with a large sampling and bidding on the silent auction and winning tix to Lee Dewayze (American Idol) and a $50 gift card to Roots. Leftovers for the event were donated to Children's Hospital and we also packed up two full boxes to give to Anna to bring to her work at Ronald McDonald House for the families that stay at the House. Some pics from the day:

We made Turtle Bars and Choc Chip Heath Bars

A Table of Goodies

Group of Volunteers

The Foreseasons

My parents came and brought little Liam as they were babysitting him for the day. They ended up bidding on and winning three items from the silent auction, in addition to all the treats! Thanks for coming Mom & Dad!

Chris looks so cute & tan here!

The event was held at Best Place in the Pabst Brewery and if you haven't been here, I suggest going. It has a great little courtyard perfect for relaxing and having a beer and the facility inside is beautiful as well. I'm thinking about planning a brewery tour someday with a group of friends and then to hang in the courtyard. Another Milwaukee gem that we haven't experienced!

Milwaukee Food Tours

2011-05-23T19:32:00.003-05:00

We were invited to participate in a food tour with Milwaukee Food Tours on Saturday night. They offer food tours down Brady Street, in the Historic Third Ward, along the RiverWalk/Old World Third Street and in the Villages of Tosa & Cedarburg.

Its funny we did the food tour amongst our Italy blogs. When you are traveling, it is fun to sightsee and go on tours of famous spots. But we don't really think to do this stuff in our hometown. Of course Milwaukee has lots of things to see & do, and many great food spots. So it was fun to get a bit of history on our own city.

We also lived in the Third Ward for a couple years so it was fun to stroll through the old neighborhood. And we had never been to many of the food spots either. The tour started with a cup of soup at the The Soup & Stock Market in the Milwaukee Public Market.

The next stop was the Rustico Pizzeria-Enoteca. Pretty ironic we go to an authentic italian restaurant after a week and a half in Italy. Let me tell you though, the pizza was right up there! The next stop was the ping-pong club SPiN Milwaukee. This is the new hot spot in the Third Ward created & co-owned by Susan Sarandon. If you haven't checked it out yet, you have to see this place to believe it. The space is very trendy looking and has about a dozen ping-pong tables throughout. We had a grilled cheese sandwich with roasted red peppers and some of the best sweet potato fries I've tasted. Then we washed it down with their own brew called SPiN Naked.

Next stop was the Tulip Restaurant which features mediterranean & middle eastern cuisine. We actually went to this restaurant during our time in the Third Ward. Saturday we were served grilled chicken kabobs. Highlight of the tour! Once again a really unique treasure for the Third Ward, and we will be going back soon.

Finally we ended the tour at a hidden little champagne bar on Broadwary call the Cuvee Lounge. I never even knew this place existed so I was really glad to take the tour just to find this spot. The champagne & chocolate were a nice way to finish off the tour. We definitely want to get back to Cuvee sometime too.

A big thank you to Theresa & Michelle at Milwaukee Food Tours for the invite. I can't wait to go on another tour, and I highly recommend it if you are foodie and a Milwaukee native. It is a really unique way to see Milwaukee and you get a great meal with it too. Contact Theresa today to book a tour! The link to their website is in the beginning of the post.

Italia Day 3: I Hope It Doesn't Blow

2011-05-20T19:34:00.002-05:00

A couple friends that have been through Italy recommended we put Pompeii on the bucket list. Sorrento is a town on the other side of the peninsula that we planned on visiting all along. Here is a little background about Pompeii from Wikipedia...

The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples. Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. The eruption buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 meters of ash, and it was lost for over 1700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1749. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year.

In case you were wondering, Vesuvius is still active. And if you weren't wondering, it is still active. You will see it in the background of a couple of these pics. Fortunately for this food blog, it didn't erupt that day.

Visiting ancient historical sites isn't on the top of Erica's list, but we managed to have some fun that day. Here she is lurking in on a tour group pretending to listen to our own audio-guide.

After touring Pompeii, we headed back to back to Sorrento and got Erica some gelato to cheer her up.

Sorrento is a bit different than Positano. It is more commercial and offers a lot more nightlife. We found another great dinner spot that night specializing in seafood and very traditional Mediterranean cuisine called L'Antica Trattoria. When you are traveling, it is important to seek out restaurants that take advantage of ingredients traditional to the area. I believe it really makes you feel like a part of the culture you are visiting. This place did it perfectly. The atmosphere was also amazing and reminded me of Paddy's Pub on the Eastside.

Once again, we sampled half the menu. I'll let the pics do the talking...

Thin Slices of Swordfish

Spring Pea Puree Soup with Ricotta

Homemade Stuffed Ravioli with Mussels and Clams

Homemade Gnocci with cherry tomatoes, orange, ricotta cheese & pistacchio

White Fish with rosemary, chick peas and prawns in black sesame

Rack of Lamb with Mint Pesto

We can't remember what this dessert was!

So cute.

After dinner we walked around and took in some of the nightlife. Sorrento was a surreal town and it was hopping for a Sunday night. It is very normal for Italians to dine late and wait countless hours for the bill. We really began to feel like we were in a foreign country this night. The streets are lined with shops and sidewalk cafes that are buzzing all night. Erica said it reminded her of the inside of a Vegas casino.

It got real cool that night which is why Erica is in the tourist sweatshirt above. She bought it for 13 euro but said she would have paid 50. This should have been an indication that the weather for the next day was going to be different.... Next up: Ravello

Italia - Day 2

2011-05-19T08:38:00.002-05:00

We slept for 11 hours that first night and planned on spending all of our 2nd day exploring Positano. Rosita had recommended that we take a "romantic" walk to a more private beach so that we did. We laid out for about 2 hours enjoying the sun and it was perfect weather as just in the 70's that day and not too hot. Two hours was plenty since our pale skin got burned in just this short time. On our walk back we stopped for a margherita pizza at a place called Lo Guarracino. This place had another awesome view.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the streets of Positano and looking at all the shops and of course stopping for our first gelato of the trip. I bought myself a pair of italian made sandals so I was excited about that purchase. You'll see me sporting them in pictures later throughout these recaps. I was also obsessed with all the lemon trinkets to buy in this town since lemon trees are all over Italy. Kind of like when I was obsessed with everything cherry in Door County and everything pineapple in Charleston.

For dinner that night we decided not to take Rosita's recommendation and find something on our own. During our walk that afternoon we came upon the Hotel Le Sirenuse. This hotel and their Ristorante La Sponda were highly rated according to our trusty Frommer's guide so we decided to go big and make a reservation for later that night. I'll mention here that the Foreseasons' usually eat dinner pretty early back home. In Italy however, the dinner hour is typically 7:00-10:00. And to go at 7:00, you are pretty much the only people there. It was usually after 10:00 every night by the time we would finish dinner!

We first had an aperitivo on their terrace. I had a bellini with prosecco and fresh strawberries and Chris had an Americano (with campari, bitters, club soda). If we go back to Positano, I would want to stay at this hotel. There were no stairs (but an uphill walk) and this terrace was lovely.

Before I get into what we ate for dinner this night, I will acknowledge that yes we splurged. I think it started when they wheeled over the champagne selections the moment we sat down and we decided to each order a glass of champagne. From there we decided to order the pre-set Chef's Menu AND the wine pairings to go with each selection.... This was by far our most expensive meal ever, but it was an unforgettable experience and it was SO worth it. When in Rome, or something like that, right? There were 6 courses on the menu, but we received an extra 3 that night making it a total of 9. We had several different waiters at our table throughout the night, including the wine sommelier. Also, you know how in America they give you just a splash of wine in a flute with each tasting typically? Well not at this Ristorante. We are talking regular glasses people. Some of which we just didn't finish as was too much. Dinner took over 3 hours and we felt pretty fantastic when we left after all the good food and wine. So on to the food. The flavors in each dish just worked perfectly together. I had to take a picture of the menu to help us remember all of what we ate!

Baby squids stuffed with local cheeses on a pea puree

Fried calamari and vegetables

Zucchini, chard & spring herbs soup with a poached egg and sauteed scampi

Topped with a fried spaghetti noodle!

Spaghetti sauteed with organic cherry tomatoes, garlic & extra virgin olive oil
This is picture perfect if you ask me!

John Dory fish cooked at a low temp in extra virgin olive oil served with a blood orange

Veal sirloin with capers, roasted garlic and sauteed baby onions

The first dessert of mixed berries

Creamy milk & pure chocolate with pine nuts and crunchy gelato

I thought dinner was over so I went to the bathroom and came back to Chris sitting at the table laughing as we had just been served this. Some small italian desserts with limoncello as an after dinner drink. We can see why Italians drink limoncello as it probably does help with the digestion (especially cuz they eat so late), but wow the first sip is quite bitter and packs some punch!

The restaurant had a very romantic atmosphere with candles all over and in chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, etc. I looked online today and it said over 400 candles are used to "create an unforgettable atmosphere". We focused so much on the food, I didn't get many pictures of much else! To give you an idea, this picture is from their website:

So when you add the beach, the shopping and our dinner together to complete day two, I would say that this day ranks very high on my list of favorite memories! Which is why I will always have a special place in my heart for Positano.

Stay tuned for day three - Pompeii and Sorrento. It's Chris' turn to write that entry.

Italy - Day 1

2011-05-17T21:10:00.004-05:00

Buongiorno! Settle in for the first of a series of posts about our trip to Italy from which we just returned. We were gone for 10 days which included 2 travel days. We began our trip in the Amalfi Coast area for 5 days. We then traveled by train to Rome for 3 days. I loved that we planned the trip this way as we got to see the coast of Italy and enjoy being by the water and then we also got to see the hustle and bustle of a big city like Rome. This had been our first trip to Europe and I’ve got to be sentimental and say that I am so proud of us for going.

So let’s start with day one. After 23 hours of travel from the time we left our house the morning of the 5th, we arrived at our hotel in Positano (Albergo Miramare) around 3:00 p.m. on the 6th. Upon check-in we were promptly taken to our room that had a view of the Mediterranean that took our breath away. Our concierge Rosita, upon seeing the looks on our faces said “I can tell in your hearts that you love it”. So true. Positano became home base for us for 5 days and is a city that I will always have a fond memory of.

Hotel Room View

Village of Positano

Although we had been up for almost a full day, we immediately freshened up and headed down to the beach to a place called La Pergola for an aperitivo (my new favorite word in Italian for cocktail). Check out those nice green olives - much more appetizing than the jarred olives from home. I ate some and I don't even like olives.

For dinner that night, Rosita set us up with a “special table” (her words) at a place called Café Positano which was just up the staircase from our hotel. Speaking of stairs, did I mention that there were 211 steps from the beach up to our hotel?! Positano is not a city for the faint of heart that is for sure as everything is either up-hill or downhill. I dreaded going up those stairs at the end of the night!

Our table at Café Positano was on the 2nd floor and was on its own private balcony with a panoramic view of the coast. We were so giddy upon sitting at this table and I still couldn’t believe that we were in this beautiful country.

After the sunset

We started our meal with some bruschetta and a bottle of white wine. Tomatoes are my favorite and I think I ate something with fresh tomatoes in it for every meal.

Chris ordered the red snapper and I ordered the linguine scampi with cherry tomatoes. We followed this with a chocolate soufflé with vanilla gelato.

So as I said, the scenery at dinner was picturesque. The food was...meh, just ok. Halfway through our meal Chris was getting the inclination that we were in a bit of a tourist trap. His first tip-off was when the waiter put a bib on me so that I didn't get tomatoes on my shirt.....I'll spare you the dorky photo we took. His next tip-off was the fact that they had the restaurant name on their dishes. Add that to the fact that the food was just so-so, I have to agree that I think it was geared more towards the tourists which was fine because like I said the location of their restaurant and the table we sat at was enough to knock anyone's socks off their first night in Positano which is probably why our hotel sent us there.

After dinner it was off to bed as we had been up for almost 30 hours at this point! Next up: Day 2 and exploring Positano. Including a 9 course (yes, 9 course) meal.

Breakfast Sandwich - Without the Egg

2011-05-11T07:02:00.000-05:00

We have a mutual understanding in our house that Chris makes the breakfast every morning and I pack the lunches. Chris always asks me to put my order in the night before, kinda like room service at a hotel. lol. I'm on a kick lately with these breakfast sandwiches as I like to call them. Sesame bagel, spread with honey nut cream cheese, then chopped walnuts and a pineapple slice. If we have kiwi or strawberries too, we throw that on top as an added bonus.

Cookies for Kids' Cancer: Bake Sale

2011-05-08T06:59:00.001-05:00

Cookies for Kids' Cancer became a national organization after December 2007 based on the original efforts of the parents of a child with cancer who decided to have an enormous bake sale to raise money to help fund the development of a pediatric cancer treatment. Cookies for Kids' Cancer is a non-profit organization committed to raising funds to support research for new and improved therapies for pediatric cancers.

#MKEfoodies is taking part in this endeavor and will be holding a bake sale and silent auction on Sat. May 21st. The sale will feature lots of yummies made by local food bloggers (whom we are delighted to meet for the first time), bakers and celebrity chefs. Local area businesses are also donating items for the silent auction.

The Foreseasons will be making some chocolate chip heath bars and are looking forward to contributing and being a part of this great cause. We hope that you will attend as well!

Bake Sale & Silent Auction for Kids' Cancer

Saturday, May 21, 2011

1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery

901 W. Juneau Ave., Milwaukee

More Salsa....and Homemade Chips

2011-05-03T19:33:00.000-05:00

Nothing too new regarding this meal. We utilized the slow-cooker one more time (where is spring?!) and combined a pork roast, sliced white onion and salsa verde and let it cook all day while we were at work. We shredded it when we got home and topped it with some fresh pineapple salsa (pineapple, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice). We tried something new this time and made our own tortilla chips. We just heated up some vegetable oil, threw some cut-up tortillas in a few batches at a time and let them fry for just 1-2 minutes on each side. We dried them off on paper towel and then seasoned them right away with some salt & southwest seasoning. Certainly not the healthiest chips in the world, but man were they good!

Easter, Part 3 - Sauteed Mushroom Sauce

2011-04-29T08:19:00.003-05:00

This is an original recipe from my Mom (“Mom D”) that has gone hand-in-hand with steak in our house for as far back as I can remember. Even though we were serving our filets with crab and a béarnaise sauce on Easter, I couldn’t forget about making these mushrooms as well since they are such a family staple. I like them so much, I just put them on my plate as an extra side dish that day.

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

½ stick butter

2 cups boiling water mixed with 2 tsp beef bouillon granules

Dash of “Kitchen Bouquet” browning sauce

In a saucepan, sauté mushrooms and onions in the butter. Add the beef bouillon mixture and kitchen bouquet. Simmer for 1.5 hour. Serve over steak.

And since this recipe reminds me so much of my parents because it was usually part of our "Big Sunday Meals" growing up, here are some pics of my Mom & Dad on Easter with their first grandchild.

Easter, Part 2 - Scalloped Potatoes

2011-04-27T12:54:00.003-05:00

We made scalloped potatoes to go with our Easter dinner and to do so I combined a recipe from Martha Stewart with a recipe from Emeril Lagasse to come up with our dish. This recipe was more than enough for 10 people and was super easy to make. It was great because we were able to make it ahead that morning and then all we needed to do was toss it in the oven to bake later that day.

-1 tbsp butter

-1 clove garlic, smashed

-3 cups heavy cream

-3 cups whole milk

-salt

-ground pepper

-nutmeg

-5 lbs Idaho potatoes, sliced thin with a mandolin

-8 oz grated Swiss cheese

-8 oz grated Fontina cheese

-green onion

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a large baking dish with butter and the garlic clove and set aside.

Pour cream and whole milk in large saucepan and bring to a simmer over med-high heat. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg (I didn’t measure). Add the sliced potatoes making sure the liquid is covering the potatoes. Add more cream if necessary. Lower heat and simmer until potatoes are fork tender (about 20 mins) and remove from heat.

Transfer 1/3 of the potatoes and cream to the greased baking dish making an even layer at the bottom. Top with 1/3 of the cheese and continue layering the potatoes and cheese, ending with cheese on top. Bake 35-40 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Let sit 5-10 mins before serving. Garnish with green onion.

Easter Dinner

2011-04-25T19:44:00.010-05:00

We had this year's Easter celebration at our house this past Saturday for the 5th year in a row. We like that it has become the standard to have Easter at our house as it gives us a chance to combine both of our families. Everyone arrived around 1:00 and we started with the appetizers and drinks and planned for a 4:30 dinner time. We had to meal-plan for 10 adults and got help with the apps and dessert:

Menu:

Deviled Eggs (Tara)

Spinach Dip/Beer Bread (Mom D)

Salad w/ Cranberries, Almonds, Feta Cheese (Mom D)

Filet Oscar

Sautéed Mushrooms

Scalloped Potatoes

Individual Pastas with Roasted Tomato and Hidden Zucchini (blogged earlier)

Cupcakes (Mom F)

The day was stress-free in the kitchen due to all of our prep that morning. As I've mentioned on this blog before, the last thing we want is to be rushing around in the kitchen trying to time everything when we could be sipping suds with our guests! In fact, we were so ahead of schedule, Chris even had time to go for a run and I went for a bike-ride before everyone showed up! Chris was in charge of the filet oscar so I'll let him take over here:

Filet Oscar

We love doing some variation of a surf & turf for a dinner party. For Easter we prepared our take on Filet Oscar. Filet Mignon topped with fresh crab meat and a béarnaise sauce. You can prepare the béarnaise sauce ahead of time:

1 shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
¼ cup white wine vinegar
¼ cup dry white wine
2-3 springs of fresh tarragon
1 stick of butter melted (but not hot!)
4 egg yolks
lemon juice
salt
1 tbsp of fresh tarragon, minced

Throw the shallot, garlic, vinegar, wine and tarragon in a sauce pan over medium heat and reduce to about 2 tablespoons of liquid. Strain the liquid into a bowl.

Blend the egg yolks in a blender and slowly add the reduction. Then slowly add the melted butter. Remember you want the butter melted but not hot. You do not want to cook the eggs. We love béarnaise sauce. It is very elegant and really ties a dish together well.

This was our first time working with fresh crab meat. We bought a pound of king crab legs. Here is how I seasoned the crab meat: With the back of a chef’s knife, make a few cracks in the shell. Then throw the legs in seasoned boiling water; I seasoned the water with kosher salt, Old Bay seasoning and a couple crushed garlic cloves. The cracks will allow the water to get in the shell and season the meat. It only takes about 5 minutes. Then use a pair of sheers to get the meat out of the shell. For this dish, you do not need to worry about tearing the meat; it gets chopped up anyway.

Cracking the crab for the Filet Oscar earlier in the a.m.

For the Filets, I like to rub Montreal Steak Seasoning on the meat, and I also cover the filets with vegetable oil and let refrigerate for a couple hours. Make sure to take the meat out of the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking it to allow it to come up to room temp (I would also take the sauce out at this point).

Ten filets all seasoned up

Pan roasting is the way to go, especially with a large crowd. It will make it much easier to keep track of a lot of steaks. I preheat the oven to 425 and heat up a grill pan over medium-high heat. I also use a combination of butter and vegetable oil in the pan. If you can, try throwing all the steaks on at once and sear for about five minutes. Then flip the steaks and throw them in the oven. About 6 minutes for medium rare, 8 for medium and 10 for well done.

Finally, heat up the crab meat in the microwave with a little butter for a minute. Top the filets with the crab meat and drizzle with the béarnaise. Although it gets tricky trying to do ten of these at once, it really is not too difficult. Your parents will be proud and your in-laws will welcome you to the family.

It's time to plate!

Alright, back to me. Here are some other pics from the day:

Traditional and Greek (feta, black olive) Deviled Eggs

Spinach Dip & Beer Bread

Cupcakes from Delicately Delicious in Cedarburg:
Lemon Curd, Choc. Truffle, Yellow w/ Vanilla Buttercream frosting, and Choc. Marshmallow.

Crowded Table

After dinner we played another "how well do you know your spouse game" similar to Xmas Eve but with new questions that I made up. This question was my favorite and was for the husbands to answer: Would your wife rather be an American Idol, a Dancing with the Stars contestant or a Real Housewife on Bravo?

Of course little Liam was the main entertainment for the day and it was necessary to setup a little photo-shoot outside. I really wish I had picked up those bunny ears I saw at the grocery store even if they were pink!

The Foreseasons.....I love my cute little aprons

We'll follow this entry later this week with a few more recipes from the day. Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter as much as we did!

Pizza-Pizza

2011-04-18T18:57:00.002-05:00

We managed to make two different kinds of pizza within the last week which is strange considering it is something that isn't often on our menu. One was a chicken taco pizza and the other was a deep dish sausage & mushroom pizza. If I compare both of these to the other kind of homemade pizza we make at home - Artichoke, Tomato & Spinach pizza , I really can't decide which I like more. All three are so different and all were home-runs in the yumminess department. They all made our recipe box so it will just have to depend on whether we are in the mood for veggie, chix or sausage pizza next time.

Chicken Taco Pizza:
This recipe was inspired by the Whole Foods App again.

Ingredients
Pizza crust
Jar of green tomatillo salsa (we use La Victoria)
2 cups shredded pepperjack cheese
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 small onion finely chopped
1 lb chicken breast, seasoned, grilled & shredded
Bunch of cilantro

Preheat oven to 425°F. Arrange crust on a pizza stone or large baking sheet. Bake crust according to instructions if it requires cooking beforehand. Once the crust is ready, spread salsa over crust and sprinkle with half of the cheese. Top with beans, onion, chicken and remaining cheese and bake until crust is crisp and cheese is bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro, cut into 8 pieces and serve.

Chicago Style Pan Pizza

This recipe can be found on allrecipes.com . We followed it pretty closely except we bought a refrigerated Pillsbury pizza crust (classic crust). We also mixed up the seasonings a bit using what we had on hand.

Fishy Monday

2011-04-14T16:16:00.002-05:00

Again this recipe comes straight from the Whole Foods app with a few shortcuts/changes.

Seared Salmon with Soy-Ginger Noodles and Vegetables

1 package (8–10 oz) Japanese noodles, such as soba, udon or rice stick (we used thin spaghetti)
2 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced scallions, plus more for garnish
3/4 cup snow peas (we used a frozen stir fry mix)
1/3 cup Soy Ginger Sauce (we used orange ginger glaze)

Prepare noodles according to package directions. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Heat a sauté pan to medium-high heat. Add canola oil, then sear salmon about 4 minutes per side or until desired doneness. Remove from pan and keep warm.

In the same pan (with a little water, if needed), sauté mushrooms until tender. Add scallions and snow peas, and sauté until just tender. Add cooked noodles and enough soy ginger sauce to coat all ingredients. Warm until heated through. Transfer noodle mixture to a platter or individual plates. Carefully place seared salmon on top and garnish with fresh scallions. Serve immediately.

Whole Foods Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and "Hidden" Zucchini

2011-04-13T20:11:00.003-05:00

This recipe comes straight from the Whole Foods app. In fact, all our recipes this week came from this app. You grate the zucchini into the pasta and then place the roasted tomatoes on top. They break apart into the pasta to make a fresh sauce. Seriously, this is a must try!

Fusilli Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and “Hidden” Zucchini (Serves 4)

6 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped basil, divided (we used dry basil & it was fine)
1/2 pound whole wheat fusilli (we used rotini)
fresh mushrooms, sauteed (our addition)
2 zucchini or yellow squash, grated
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange tomatoes on a large tin foil-lined sheet tray, cut-sides up. Drizzle with oil; season with salt and pepper. Scatter 2 tablespoons Parmesan and 2 tablespoons basil evenly over top. Roast until juicy and bubbling, about 20 minutes; set aside. Saute the mushrooms and set aside. Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add fusilli and cook until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add zucchini, mushrooms, lemon juice, remaining 6 tablespoons Parmesan and 2 tablespoons basil. Toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide pasta onto four plates, top with tomatoes and serve.

Tailgate

2011-04-12T17:08:00.001-05:00

We had our first tailgate of the Brewers season this past weekend. It turned out to be quite the family day with my sisters and both their husbands, my parents, Tara’s brother in-law and his wife. My Aunt Patrice, Frank and Cousin Katie even got to stop by for a bit.

Our plan was to keep it simple, but we ended up having quite a lot of food. With my Mom coming on board last minute, she brought some extra goodies. First up, she brought along stuff to make quesadillas on the grill with black beans, cheese & salsa. It was an unexpected appetizer for a tailgate and was quite good. She also brought a “tailgate medley” (her words) of mushrooms, onions & green peppers which we roasted on the grill for toppings on the sandwiches. And finally, a pan of asparagus with some lemon juice and seasonings which we roasted on the grill as well. Then we had the typical tailgate fare of brats, burgers (with pretzel buns of course), chips and beer. If it wasn't for my Mom the typical tailgate fare would have been all we had!

I don’t have many pics of the food, but a lot of pics of the tailgate:

This grill was a Xmas from my Dad. Our grill was so pitiful at the last tailgate he attended with us, that he bought our group this grill specifically for tailgating.

It took Chris and I an hour and a bottle of wine to put together the night before.

Have yourself a dang quesadilla!

Headed into the game. I cannot remember what Anna is laughing at in this photo, but I think it is obvious she was having a good time being out for the day and leaving her Mom duties with the babysitter at home.