5th annual pumpkin carving party

it's that time again. each year we make lots of chili and tell our friends it is a byop party. bring your own pumpkin, of course. this all started with 2 of my very close friends back in charlottesville, va. sally, bryson and i made chili, carved pumpkins and i think we even watched the great pumpkin. so i wanted to carry on the tradition...and here we are 5 years later with 17 people coming over tonight. yikes! i stick with a simple chili recipe that includes, red and green peppers, kidney beans, black beans, onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. i forget how simple chili can be, yet so yummy. it is going to be perfect w/ this cooler weather. there are a few toppings to choose from, like sour cream, cheddar cheese, and scallions. we are going to have lots of cornbread and beer on hand too. last but not least, there will be a pumpkin ooey gooey cake for dessert.
it's funny though. every year i end up not getting to carve a pumpkin. i am usually running around making sure everyone is ok, had enough to eat, needing a tool to carve the pumpkin, etc. but it's always fun and i always take lots of pictures to remember the evening.
hummm...what am i going to do with the pumpkin seeds this year?

salmon = yummy

the lemon dill cedar planks I had laying around were put to good use last night. it was too easy. i soaked the plank for about an hour, careful to not get the seasonings wet. the salmon was placed on top and grilled it until cooked all the way through. it soaked up all of the yummy seasonings. since it was sunday, i had plenty of veggies to choose from to go along w/ the salmon. i decided to cook the broccolini. it was placed in boiling water for 2 minutes, then sauteed for a few more minutes in a pan. the pan already had 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, lemon zest and minced garlic waiting for the arrival of the broccolini. after a few minutes, i squeezed some fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper before plating it. to make the dinner complete, i boiled 2 yukon gold potatoes that were chopped in water for about 8 minutes, drained it and added it back into the pan with some olive oil and rosmary, until browned.

cannellini beans

my new favorite:

cannellini beans
arugula
red onions (sliced thinly)
basil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

the longer you let it set, the tastier it gets.

Cannellini beans are loaded with nutrients your body needs. They help reduce cholesterol, prevent headaches and give you energy to spare.
They are a traditional Italian bean, (a haricot bean which is the edible pod or seed of any of several beans, especially the kidney bean).

mom is here!

wow. has it been that long since i last posted? it's going to take some time for me to get used to doing this. and i need to learn how to post pictures too. i didn't even post about the wonderful trip to Italy, either! so many good foods and wine. i wouldn't even know where to start. that may be a later post. (w/ pictures)
mom is in town. we had friends over to taste mom's wonderful cooking. pansit, caldereta, chicken adobo, mungo, beko and white rice. all the dishes jean i and i grew up eating. don't forget about the spam appetizers. the kitchen smelled soooo good when i came home from work. i promised mom that i would cook the rest of the week, since she spent the day cooking for us and our friends. i need to start learning how to make these dishes. they are quite simple too.

Goals: more pictures, more posts, more food!

cook when you camp!

when you go camping...you can take the easy road and grill hotdogs and make lame sandwiches. OR! you can create and tasty meal that you will enjoy. we went camping this weekend in the pop-up camper. it is easier to cook in the camper because we have lots of utensils, cookware, etc. but we had a nice fire going and the blue cheese burgers were grilled to perfection. simple salad and potatoes cooked in a cast iron skillet completed the meal. or was it the bottle of red wine? really, how can you go wrong w/ blueberry pancakes for breakfast when you are camping. food can still be exciting even when you are in the wilderness.

Brussel sprouts?

i am not familiar with cooking brussel sprouts, but they have grown really well in the garden this year. cooking them with pancetta seems like the way to go. the salty pancetta will go nicely with the dark greens. i recently watched lidia (from lidia's italy) take the sprouts apart and cook them in a pan. she combined them w/ some olive oil, red pepper flakes and just covered them for a few minutes until they were tender. seems so simple. i think i will try the barefoot contessa's turkey meatloaf recipe to go along w/ it. cooking dinner for 8 people tomorrow night. i hope it works!
i also have to harvest the collard greens soon. it's time to make room for the summer garden. rumor has it that i can cook the greens and freeze them? i wonder how long they will keep?

Steak and gorgonzola

a favorite of mine is thinly sliced grilled steak on a bed of salad with crumbled gorgonzola. last night we had arugula, red onions (sliced thinly) and carrots in the salad. the dressing we had on hand was a little too heavy for the yummy crumbles, so i quickly made an olive oil/dijon/red wine vinegar dressing. nice and light.

nothing leftover to bring for lunch today. boo!

Under Construction

Finally! A food diary of my very own. I am usually really good about remembering what I ordered at a restaurant or what I made for dinner last week, but I wanted to keep track of all of these things. So why not blog about it? I hope to write down everything from what is planted in the garden, what I made for dinner the night before or even what I thought about the new restaurant I tried last week. BEWARE! Please forgive my misspelled words and poor grammar skills on future posts (i just spellchecked my post and i misspelled grammar!!). I hope to have lots of photos to accompany my rambling posts too.