The Cooking Vent

Hearty Italian Meat Sauce

2012-02-05T08:22:00.006-08:00

I'm mostly posting this recipe because my mother's been begging for it...

And I'm a slacker....

And I have good intentions... I really do!

But then I've been getting home from work exhausted, force myself out for a run, make dinner and crash!

So, sorry mom! I'll do better this time. I promise! :)

I made this with her when she came for a visit for 24 hours back in November. She was on a quick layover on her way out of the country to visit my sister, and we had to savor every minute we could get. I, unfortunately, couldn't get off work, so we really only had the evening together. I wanted to make it count - so of course the thing that I wanted to do together was cook. I wanted to get our hands together in the kitchen, one of the places that means the most to me, in order to enjoy every minute with her. I hadn't seen her since my trip to Italy, and the best way to tell some of the stories of the things we did is not over the phone, but in the reliving of what we did. The sweetness of the tomatoes and licorice smell of the basil brought me right back to the middle of Florence and the Centrale Market. It was the best way to let her know exactly what happened on the trip and for her to even experience a tiny piece of it herself - at least from my perspective.

That night, we made the meal together, talked and laughed, and moved out to the back patio with Archie. He made us a fire in my fire pit, and we sat at my little vintage patio table, savoring each bite, knowing we only had a little bit of time.

The meat sauce itself is so simple - using fresh ingredients from the Centrale Market when we were in the class in Italy. And even though I don't have a Centrale Market close by, I have tried to preserve the freshness as much as I can - basil from my back yard, meat from the local butcher, all adding up to make such tastiness, and causing there to be even more memories surrounding my yummy little Italian meat sauce.

P.S. - I apologize for the pictures of the final meat sauce not being so great - by the time the meal finished cooking it Italy, Jen and I were supposed to be on a train 10 blocks away in 20 minutes (plus meeting up with our husbands!). I'll work on getting a better picture. :)

P.P.S. - The fresh pasta (made by hand!!!) recipe to come shortly. You'll be surprised at how easy it is. No pasta roller needed!

Italian Meat Sauce (By: Chef Giovanni, Florence Italy) - serves 6

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

6 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 cloves garlic

1 red onion

1 tsp chili pepper flakes

1 lb good quality ground beef

1 lb Italian pork sausage, casings removed (I used the sweet kind since there was already a kick from the chili pepper)

2 cups red wine

1 lb. can whole, peeled tomatoes

1-2 whole basil leaves per serving (approximately 6-12 leaves)

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Chop onion into small diced pieces and mince garlic

2. Place olive oil in pan and heat up. Place the onion, garlic and chili flakes into the heated oil and continue cooking until caramelized.

3. Place the pork sausage and ground beef into pan. Mash with a fork until all pieces are broken down, and meat is cooked through. DO NOT DRAIN!! I know.. weird, but don't do it.

Fresh from the butcher!

4. Add the 2 cups wine (plus another little drizzle if you like the taste ;) ), and allow to reduce by half - about 10-15 minutes depending on how high your heat works.

5. Drain juice of tomatoes into the pan and crush the whole tomatoes with your hand, creating pieces of smaller tomatoes. You can use a fork to make any a little smaller if they are still too big. Place basil in pot. Allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serve with fresh, warm, homemade pasta!

Memories

2012-01-23T16:45:00.000-08:00

There is something about food that always seems to bring up memories. It's probably one of the things I like best about food.

Lots of people know me by my love for cooking, my love for food (not sure that's a good thing! ;)), and being the one who always wants to try a new recipe.

But really, at the heart of the matter, I actually always go back to the standbys. The foods that mean something to me. Yes, they sure are good, but they have heart behind them.

I'm sure right now you're thinking... she is insane. It's just food we're talking about here. But it's not!! The smell of orange cinnamon rolls can instantly remind me of being a child in my grandmother's kitchen in the summer. She would always make us orange rolls - and to this day, I have orange cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. The kind from the can!

The taste of corn tortillas reminds me of my summer mission's internship in Mexico - and our favorite restaurant "The Hill". Their tacos with the cheese that you pulled with your fork was remarkable - but even more so was the amazing opportunity to share God's love with this country.

The cold and creamy taste of butter pecan ice cream instantly takes me back to my living room in high school. Watching television late at night with my dad after getting back from a basketball game on the bus was the perfect night treat. Both of us mostly sitting in silence from sheer exhaustion, but the time spent together was priceless.

And then there's these - Bacon wrapped water chestnuts. One of my favorite recipes of all time. Are they good? Absolutely! But I tend to think they are mostly as good as I think they are because of the memories they bring up. This is one of the first recipes I learned how to make from my mom. In fact - it's her recipe. I'm sure you could find some adaption of it pretty easily on the internet somewhere, but none of them taste quite like these.

It's the first recipe I mastered on my own, brought somewhere and got a really good response. They became my standby for a while - the only thing I would make because I knew I could make them well! Obviously, I've branched out since then.. but I remember my roots, and I remember standing by my mom as she taught me each step. And every time I taste one, the crunchiness of the water chestnut and the tanginess of the barbecue sauce, it reminds me of home!

What recipe or food do you have the conjures up the most memories?

Mom's Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Print Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb bacon (cut in thirds)

2 small cans water chestnuts (break in half and stack on top of each other)

1 cup ketchup

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tbs. lemon juice

toothpicks

Preparation

1. Cut bacon into thirds.

2. Wrap bacon around stacked water chestnuts and secure with a tooth pick. Place on baking tray in line leaving space between so they don't stick together.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Pour off the grease.

4. In a microwave safe bowl, mix together sugar, ketchup and lemon juice. Heat just until warmed in microwave (about 30 seconds).

5. Pour over water chestnuts evenly, trying to avoid the toothpick if possible (it will burn).

6. Bake an additional 30-35 minutes until bacon is crispy.

Featured

2012-01-18T22:21:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

Go on... check me out over here today. You know you want to! :)

There's a small little write-up feature about The Cooking Vent over there, and wouldn't it be oh so nice of you to drop on over and check me out!

Pocketchange by Become.com shows a lot of different bloggers in features for "Best of the Web"- Be @ Home section, and they asked if they could write a bit about me.

Thanks for showing some love and stopping on over.

Peppermint Oreo Truffles

2011-12-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

We sure did around here. It was a relaxing day that was filled with a lot of blessings... and eating!

We weren't able to be with our family this year, but Skype and FaceTime has really made a difference in technology - and I was able to have conversations with family and friends from all over the world (Washington, South Carolina, and even China) via FaceTime and it was almost like being together - almost. My dad called on FaceTime from the terminal of the Atlanta airport on his way to visit family out of the country. He turned the phone around to show me the airport, and it was completely dead! I guess not many people fly internationally on Christmas day. Made it nice for him, he was getting on a 14 hour flight and there were lots of extra seats - Leg room, baby! ha

How was your Christmas? What did you do? I hope it was filled with blessings and love from your family, and hopefully your were able to set aside a time to quiet yourself and reflect on this season.

We spent some time with a great group of friends yesterday, enjoying the day together - and had a lot of fun. We decided to forego the large Christmas dinner idea so that nobody was spending the entire day in the kitchen, and went for a large pot of white chicken chili, salad, and yummy appetizers. Everybody pitched in and brought appetizers, dips, desserts, etc and we pretty much ate all day. It was divine! :)

One of the things I brought were these yummy peppermint Oreo truffles. They are so so good. They stay moist in the middle from the cream cheese, and they have just the slightest hint of peppermint flavor - not too overwhelming like a lot of peppermint flavored goodies. You could always increase or decrease the amount of peppermint candy used if you wanted to change it - or even omit it all together if you don't like peppermint. These are a great way to use up those candy cane Christmas tree decorations, and would make a really great New Year's Eve goody to bring for your parties. Hope you enjoy!

Peppermint Oreo Truffles (Adapted From: Kraft Recipes)

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

~ 12 peppermint candies, divided

1 package Oreo cookies

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

12 ounces dark (bittersweet) chocolate chips

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Here's your lineup of what you'll need

Preparation:

1. Place cookies and 8 peppermint candies in a food processor, pulsing until completely crushed.

2. Place cream cheese in food processor with crushed cookie mixture. Pulse until it makes a batter, and all cookie crumbs are combined. Place mixture in fridge for 20-30 minutes or until chilled.

3. While chilling, place remaining peppermint candies in a ziploc bag and crush into smaller pieces with a meat mallet or rolling pin (you'll want bigger pieces, not fine dust)

4. Place chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe bowl, and melt in 30 second increments until completely smooth and melted.

5. Roll chilled cookie mixture into 1" balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

6. Dip rolled cookie mixture into chocolate using a small fork, covering entire ball with chocolate. Take out and tap fork on edge of bowl a few times to tap off excess chocolate. Top with remaining peppermint candy pieces immediately after dipping before the chocolate dries.

7. Continue dipping process with all of the balls. Place in refrigerator to harden approximately 30 minutes.

Eggnog French Toast with Brown Butter Maple Syrup

2011-12-24T23:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have the most wonderful day with your family, friends, and loved ones.

I'm planning on doing the same. And while I'm at it, I'll be enjoying a lot of good food.

I won't be with family this year for the holidays, but we'll be with our California family - laying around in our pajamas, all pitching in with good food, talking, playing games, eating, watching movies, and oh yeah... eating! :)

I made this eggnog french toast for breakfast for Archie and I and it was fantastic. The eggnog flavor is not strong at all, but the brown butter maple syrup will SERIOUSLY change your life! NOT kidding.... at.... all! Seriously people, go make the brown butter syrup right now. Then make this really easy and yummy french toast sticks recipe and serve it together for your family.

This recipe is a great way to use up all your leftover eggnog so it doesn't get wasted! If you don't like eggnog, you can definitely substitute the whole liquid amount for milk - but I don't recommend it! :)

EGGNOG FRENCH TOAST WITH BROWN BUTTER MAPLE SYRUP (Adapted From Simply Scratch)

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

10 slices of thick break (I used buttermilk bread)

4 whole eggs, room temperature

2/3 cup eggnog, room temperature

2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature

1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

For Syrup:

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 stick butter

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Slice bread into 4 slices each. In a shallow pan whisk together eggs, eggnog, milk, cooled butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3. Dip the bread pieces into the egg mixture and place on a cookie cooling rack to drip off extra batter.

4. Place dipped pieces evenly on a cookie sheet, leaving a small amount of space between so they don't stick. Place the sheets in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn over after 15 minutes and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown.

5. For syrup: Place the butter into a small skillet pan and melt - allowing to cook until butter turns golden, foam disappears, and it emits a nutty smell.

6. Combine the syrup and browned butter in a bowl and whisk to mix together. Serve with baked french toast.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Bark

2011-12-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a really rough week!

You know the theory that bad things come in threes... well they came in four's and fives this week.

Life at work was insane! It wasn't just your typical, "Oh that was a really stressful week". No, it was pretty much terrible! Lots of things going on there, one of which include the word "restructuring", and it was really hard!

Then my husband got in a car accident this week. But the problem is, that he drives a '67 Ford Mustang. So, it's not like any other car, and we can just go ahead and have it fixed. It has to be taken to a specific car specialist, and we'll never be able to match the specific color it was painted, so it will just have to have black primer on it until we can afford to get the whole car repainted.

On top of the craziness, it was our 8 year anniversary this week - and I was way to stressed out to even remotely enjoy it. My poor hubby was busy trying to take care of me (this was before he wrecked his car! :) ), and we tried to enjoy dinner and our date as much as possible.

Yesterday, I was really down in the dumps! I was having myself a good ole' pity party about what a stressful and rough week it was, and it was Christmas time - my favorite time of the year, and now it felt ruined... and then I stopped dead in my tracks! Boy was I going down a really bad path, and I felt that oh so "GENTLE" nudge that I was so so wrong.

Christmas was not ruined because I was having a bad day - in fact, I think it was made better, because only when I am at the very bottom of myself can God be glorified, and then the true meaning of Christmas can really be portrayed. God is the God of peace, He is the God of comfort, He holds us in the midst of our sorrow, and in the middle of everything... He is on the throne.

I heard this song on the radio yesterday, it's one of my favorites we sing at SouthBay Church, and it has been my saving grace. Thought I would share with you.

This week, when I was at my craziest, I decided to make some comfort food in the form of chocolate. Don't worry, I only had one piece and took the rest to work! :) This pretzel bark is so good. It's kind of a twist on some of the bark that is out there at Christmas time. I love the mix of the flavors, and I love homemade caramel. It's really a very very tasty treat - and perfect for giving away to neighbors and friends in your Christmas goodie bags!

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark (Adapted from Legume Loyalist via Pinterest):

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

bag of pretzel sticks (you won't need the whole bag)

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 oz. milk chocolate chips (recommend Guittard)

Fleur de Sel sea salt

Preparation:

1. Line a baking tray with foil and lightly brush on butter from one of the sticks - just barely cover. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat (if you have gas heat, really watch it, because it will get hot very fast). As the butter is melting, lightly break pretzel sticks up with hands and place evenly covering surface of foil-lined cookie sheet.

3. Once butter is melted, add the brown sugar and whisk until incorporated (this may take a few minutes - the butter once to stay separated). Allow the sugar and butter to simmer, but avoid letting the whole thing boil. It will be a big huge mess, and you'll have to do the whole thing again - take my word for it! :) Stir occasionally, about 3-4 minutes until it takes on a caramel consistency.

4. Pour the caramel mixture evenly over the pretzels, drizzling back and forth, using a spatula to even it out if you missed any spots. Bake in the oven 5-7 minutes.

5. While caramel is in oven, over a double boiler (saucepan filled with simmering water with a larger bowl on top. Remember not to let the bowl touch the water or you end up with burnt chocolate), place the chocolate. Continue to stir until its melted and smooth.

6. Pour the melted chocolate over the cooked caramel/pretzel mixture, again drizzling back and forth and using a spatula to spread to any missed spots. Sprinkle with the fleur de sel and place in refrigerator for approximately one hour to harden. Place on a cutting board upside down, pulling the foil off. Cut or break the sheet into smaller/bark like pieces.

Eggnog Sugar Cookies

2011-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

I know I've said this before... but California has to be the best state ever. It's not even my home state - where I was born and raised. But it sure does feel like "home" now. Archie and I LOVE to explore, and one of our favorite ways is hiking. There are so many places to go hiking here. This past weekend we went hiking with our hiking buddies, Jeremiah and Jenny. Here are a few pictures of our adventure at Big Sur.

How can you go hiking without an Iphone/GPS?

Can you say Christmas card?

We made a lunch stop at Big Sur Bakery. I've heard a lot about this place on other blogs, and loved being able to try it. It was a lunch menu, which was a bit smaller, but it was still delicious. I had a local ham sandwich with fresh baked bread and a chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie. Archie got a chai latte which was topped with honey and was delicious! If you're in the area, you should definitely try.

Now let's talk about cookies - because I know that's really why you're reading. It's Christmas time - and what better way to add thickness to the waste line but eggnog! Eggnog has such a varied fan base - some people love it and some people hate it. I'm surprised to see how many people haven't even tried it! My dad introduced me to eggnog, and I've been a fan ever since. I'm a traditionalist though - you can't enjoy it, not even one little sip, until after Thanksgiving! These cookies have just a hint of eggnog with more of a nutmeg flavor. Still delicious.

If you need a little help working off the eggnog, Pinterest has some great quick at home bootcamp workouts you can do in 30 minutes or less with little to no equipment - here and here.

Eggnog Sugar Cookies (From: BHG)

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

For Cookies -

1/2 vanilla bean

1 1/4 cups butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 tablespoon eggnog

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

For Icing

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4-5 tablespoons eggnog

Preparation:

1. Cut vanilla bean in half and scrape out seeds, setting them aside.

2. Using an electric mixer, mix softened butter on medium for 30 seconds or until fluffy. Add the sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt, and beat until combined, scraping the bowl as needed.

3. Beat in the egg, eggnog, and vanilla beans until combined. Mix in the flour - mixing as much as possible by the electric mixer, and switching to a wooden spoon to stir in remaining flour.

4. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap, chilling for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 and lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/4" thick.

5. Using a fluted round cookie cutter, cut out dough and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack, and let cool.

For Icing:

Mix together all ingredients until spreadable consistency. Spread onto cooled cookies.

The Great Cookie Swap 2011 - Gingersnap Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

2011-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, on twitter, I saw that Lindsay from Love and Olive Oil was going to be hosting a cookie swap! It was such a fantastic idea that I had to join in. She had a sign up where bloggers could sign up, get matched up with other bloggers, and exchange a dozen cookies by mail with three other bloggers. What a great way to get to know some other bloggers, taste some yummy cookies, and make some Christmas cookies myself!

Here were some of the cookies I got!

Jessica from The Novice Chef sent me these really delicious peanut butter sandwich cookies. They taste really close to these - which is so funny, because it's one of my families FAVORITE cookies!

Then I received these delicious bits! Yummy Chocolate Caramel Cookies from Heather at FarmGirl Gourmet. They reminded me of Salted Caramel Cookies - and they taste divine with peppermint ice cream!

Lastly, I received Pumpkin Suicide Cookies from Melanee at The Best Life Lived. They were a delicious batch of fall wrapped in a cookie that had a twist of a chocolate chip cookie.

Now I'm in a cookie coma from trying out all of these cookies!

And for myself, I had to decide on the cookie. It was a hard choice, but then I found the cookbook for Miette at the library. Miette is a great bakery in San Francisco/Oakland, and they have the best gingersnap cookies. You can find them all year round, and every time I'm in the Fairy building, I pick up a package. So when I found the cookbook... and the recipe for the gingersnaps was in there... it was a go! I made some small adaptions to the recipe, and made it a sandwich cookie with cream cheese frosting!- so so good.

So I sent a batch to Patricia, Chung, and Emily. Hope you ladies enjoyed them, and hope they made them in one piece! :)

Gingersnap Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies (Adapted from Miette Bakery cookbook)

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon ground ginger

Generous 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon crushed crystalized ginger

2 teaspoons fresh ginger puree (grated with a microplane)

granulated sugar for sprinkling

For Frosting

1 8 ounce package cream cheese frosting, softened

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 pound (box) powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation

1. Sift together both flours, salt, and spices in a bowl and set aside.

2. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy for 3-4 minutes. Then add the honey and molasses, continuing to mix until fully incorporated.

3. Add the flour and spices to the butter and sugar mixture in three small batches, mixing until just combined. Stir in the crystalized ginger and ginger puree just until combined.

4. Form the dough into a round flat disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling out to cut into shapes.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

6. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface to 1/4" thick. Cut with a scalloped round cookie cutter, place on the lined cookie sheets approximately 1/2" apart. Sprinkle the cookies with the granulated sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are browned. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

7. For frosting, beat all ingredients together until well mixed. Frost a small amount on a cookie, and sandwich them together. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Nut Bacon Waffles

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Has anyone else already seen Twilight yet? I promise.... I'm really not a Twilight junkie or obsessed - REALLY... but I did go see the movie last night. :)

I read the books over the summer, and after you read the books - it gives you a totally different perspective on the movies. And I have to say - they did a really good job keeping with the books. It's not like some movies where it's "loosely related".

So, how about some waffles for your Saturday morning! These aren't just any waffles - they're Toasted Oatmeal Browned Nut Sugared Bacon Waffles!!!! Is that a mouthful or what? So I took out all the adjectives for you and just renamed them Oatmeal Nut Bacon Waffles - but that just doesn't sound as good!

They have crunchy pieces of toasted oatmeal and nuts hiding inside. And the best part is you bake some bacon with brown sugar on it (My friend Kelly's idea that is to DIE for! We all swoon for her bacon), cut it up into little pieces, and put it inside the waffles. So every now and then you get a secret little gem of sugared bacon in your bite of waffle. YUM!

Sometimes I wonder how my husband puts up with me and doesn't just say, "can't we just have some waffles out of the box today?!"

Oatmeal Nut Bacon Waffles (Adapted from: Taste of Home)

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar, divided

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

10 pieces bacon

Preparation:

1. Prepare Bacon- Lay a piece of parchment paper over a baking tray and place bacon on top.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar evenly over bacon. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until crispy.

2. While bacon is cooking, combine by whisking dry ingredients in a bowl - flour, baking powder, salt and additional 1/4 cup brown sugar.

3. On the stove top in a small pan, place nuts on medium heat and warm until golden brown and you can smell the nuts - that means they are done. Remember to keep moving the pan around in order to cook evenly.

4. Do the same thing with the oats.

5. Then mix the wet ingredients - eggs, milk, butter.

6. Then mix in the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and fold in the nuts, oats.

7. Once the bacon is finished cooking, drain quickly on paper towels and then move over to a cutting board and cut into bite-sized pieces. Add to waffle mix.

8. Place approximately 1/4 - 1/3 cup of batter onto waffle iron and cook until golden brown. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Italy Day 11 - 14

2011-11-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry this has been so long in between posts, but I really wanted to finish up our trip to Italy. I know that the recap isn't the most interesting for everyone, but I thought even if it helps someone who's been to Italy relive the memories for a moment it might be worth it. And I definitely did it also as a way for me to have a journal of types to be able to look back on.

Continuing on...

The next day we did an hour and a half hike through the Cinque Terre trail from Vernazza to Monterosso. It was quite the strenuous hike, but it was a lot of fun. The views were amazing! Once we got to Monterosso, we headed down to the VERY European style beach... wink wink, and went down to the water. We just kept our bodies towards the water to avoid the other views. But the water and the rocks were gorgeous.

I'm not sure if you have heard on the news or read online, but just last week a terrible storm went through Cinque Terra and totally devastated the towns. In fact, the mayor of Monterosso, where the above picture was taken has stated that the town is nonexistent. The mud and rocks have washed down into the town and destroyed them. The pictures are horrifying, and I even read that the locals and tourists had to evacuate the city by boat! We consider ourselves so lucky to have seen the cities, and can't wait to go back and support the people as they rebuild.

That night we went to dinner back in Vernazza at a restaurant called the Pirate Bar. It was okay food - really rich food. But the owners were two hilarious characters. They were from Sicily - and they had the idea that there food was the best.

We then took a walk down to the waterfront in Vernazza, and the view is amazing.

The next morning, we took the train to Venice. When we woke up, it was rainy and windy - but still warm. We took the train all day and ended up in Venice where it was 20 degrees colder than it was in Cinque Terre. It was quite the difference. We checked in to our bed and breakfast, which was super cute. The guy who owned the B&B was Ricardo. He was the biggest character. We had such a great time with him and can't wait to go back and stay with him. He required a picture before we left.

After we checked in, we just walked around a bit in Venice and enjoyed some of the amazing views. It really is such a romantic city. It's hard to explain exactly what it's like! We also went in to see the Dojee's palace, but I don't have any pictures since you weren't allowed to take any inside.

The next day was full of sight seeing. I went for a run along the water. It was so beautiful. One of the best runs of the trip. The sun was coming up, and I was pretty much alone. Every other time in the city felt so busy, so it was great. Except for the 18 bridges that I had to run over. :)

We then started out with the Rialto bridge and market - one of the biggest areas in Venice (aside from St. Mark's Square).

View from Rialto Bridge and the Rialto bridge itself

Such a cute picture

Obviously we were looking at the wrong camera - ha - oh well, it's still such a pretty view.

Some gondoliers

The piazza near the Rialto Market. The fountains where you can fill up your water are always so pretty - nothing like the fountains in the states.

We then took the boat over to Murano and literally met the Italian mafia. They were quite interesting. We did get to see a 2 minute glass blowing demonstration, and then walked into about fifty shops with tchotchke that looked the same in every shop. Sorry, no pictures.

We did take a gondola ride though - even if it was only for 3 minutes. They call it three minutes of heaven, and for half a euro (about 75 cents per person) you can ride in the gondola across the Grand Canal. It was totally worth it. You got to see it, take a picture, and get out. Otherwise, it cost 100 euros to take the extended ride.

We went to dinner at a great place in Venice recommended by Ricardo - they had the best chocolate soufflé there! We ordered two.... and a tiramisu!

After dinner we went for a walk back down to St. Mark's square.

They have mini orchestra's set up in the outdoor cafe's. They play a song, and then across the way in another cafe another orchestra will play. They take turns this way going back and forth - and the music itself is really show-worthy. They are excellent musicians.

The bellower

St. Mark's Square, Basilica, and Dogee's Palace.

The view across the water.

Typical views of the Grand Canal at night. I love the way the light comes off and seeing the boats in the water.

While we were out in St. Mark's square, we saw all of these people lined up around these telescopes. Come to find out, they have a club of people who donate their telescopes, come down one time a year and donate them as a way to educate and let people enjoy the beautiful views. We were able to see the moon and jupiter (and it's rings). It was beautiful and seriously... what were the chances we would be there on the ONE night of the year they do it.

The next day was our LAST day in Italy together - and the last day in Venice. We just decided to take it slow and walk around, finish up some shopping, and get a few more last minute pictures and of course - food!

At the end of the day we took the boat back over to the other side of Venice - the much more industrialized Venice. But we stayed at a very nice hotel overnight and enjoyed the pool for one last time. It was so bittersweet to leave our friends in Venice (they went on to Greece for a few days - lucky ducks).

So that is it! The full Italy recap! Hope you enjoyed it! Until our next trip - Bonjourno!

Italy Day 9 & 10 - and a recipe

2011-10-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are... one of the biggest highlights of the trip! The cooking class. I'm going to give the recipes in doses - don't want to overwhelm you with pictures and recipes... one at a time! :)

DAY 9 - Cooking Class in Florence, Pisa, Train to Vernazza

I have to say, Day 9 started out with a bang! I got some kind of stomach bug or something the night before, and it was miserable. I was awake ALL night long trying not to be sick and failing miserably! I just kept thinking in my head, "I CAN'T be sick!" Luckily, by morning, the majority of the nausea had passed. I still felt pretty weak, but I was not going to miss out on the opportunity to take a cooking class in Florence, Italy!

We started our class back again at Centrale Market. This time, they gave us a real tour, complete with an hour long balsamic vinegar and olive oil tasting and lesson as well as going around the market and picking up all the fresh ingredients for the class. Need meat? Go see the butcher. Need it ground? No problem, he'll do it right there for you!

This is Chef Giovanni. He was our chef for the day. He also had an assistant, Adrian, but I don't have a picture of him. His assistant was so nice! We got a lot of good information from him. Chef Giovanni was very nice as well, but I think he was a little more focused on the food! :)

We started out by making the tiramisu since it would need to chill for at least 2 hours after making it. The step by step recipe and pictures are at the end of the post! This recipe for the tiramisu was so good! He mentioned that most restaurants will use a recipe that includes a lot more "cake" - particularly the sponge cake - because it's cheaper to do it that way. But he used only two crispy cookies in the middle of the dessert, and there was a lot more cream used in his dessert. It even has the recipe for single serving tiramisu!

Overall, we had a really fun day. We were both glad we did the class. We took it through a company called "Florencetown". It was definitely a company made for American or "English speaking" tourists, but, if we had done a cooking class at some grandma's kitchen or something like that, we probably wouldn't have understood any of it.

Jen and I had to high tail it out of our class, even though it wasn't over. They listed that the class would be over at 3, but at 3:20 we were JUST getting food on the table. We crammed down a few bites of really amazing food and had two bites of our amazing looking tiramisu (which in all honesty was okay with my not so great feeling tummy). We had previously bought train tickets for 3:50 out of Florence and we were meeting the boys to catch the train. We just had to do a little running to find the boys and catch the train. 3 minutes to spare by the time we sat on the train.... that's great! Travel days were always a bit crazy. We then stopped had to do a little pit stop in Pisa. We spent about 30 minutes here. That's REALLY all you need. Then we had to book it (by booking I mean run four blocks with suitcases) back to the train station - only to miss the train because we couldn't read the ticket machine in Italian!). It was beautiful though.

You just HAVE to have a picture holding up the tower!

Behind the tower, there is a whole beautiful area of grass and another church and they call the whole area "Field of Miracles". We're just taking in all the sights. We did, finally, make it on the train and made it into Vernazza - one of the five towns in Cinque Terre.

Day 10 - Vernazza - hiking on Cinque Terre Trail

The next morning we headed over to Manarola, another one of the towns and hiked the Cinque Terre trail. These locks were all over the trail - it's intended to be a point where "lover's meet". But now, they just put locks all over the walk.

They even sell these locks there that you can buy specifically for the walk.

Here are a bunch of amazing pictures of the walk, the city of Manarola, and the Ligurian Sea! It feels so surreal to be here. The pictures only do half the justice of what it really looks like.

Cats are really popular in Italy. They are everywhere - but they are tame, and very friendly, and surprisingly clean. This little guy was curled up in a boat. We even pet him and rubbed his ears, and he didn't move. He had a pacifier by him that someone left there, but when we came back by it was gone. It was so cute.

We also stopped at a little restaurant that served pesto pizza, and grabbed a slice. This pizza was seriously the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life. You didn't care that it was loaded with olive oil because it was so amazing.

We headed back to Vernazza and decided to have a little afternoon picnic. We hiked up a little ways up the other side of the trail and found this really amazing spot that overlooked Vernazza. Remember I said there was a killer picnic spot - this was it! The best spot for our picnics thus far. We sat up there and waited for the sun to go down in order to get the city in the light and at sunset. It made for the most spectacular view.

And here is probably my favorite picture of the entire trip.

I'll put up the rest of the recipes soon, but here is the yummy tiramisu.

TIRAMISU (By: Chef Giovanni in Florence, Italy)

Print Recipe

Ingredients: Serves 5

1 lb. mascarpone

4 fresh eggs (let them sit out 10-15 minutes)

5 Tbs. white sugar

5 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa

2 cups coffee or espresso, room temperature

5-10 crispy cookies or ladyfingers

OPTIONAL

5 Tbsp. Bailey's or Kahlua mixed in coffee OR 5 Tbsp. milk/cream mixed in coffee

Preparation:

1. Separate the egg yolks and whites into separate bowls. Whisk the egg whites, whisking in one direction in a circle. Continue whisking until the whites create soft peaks and you can turn the bowl over and it stays inside! :)

2. In the bowl with the egg yolks, add the sugar to the egg yolks. Stir until light, creamy, and sugar is combined. Add in mascarpone and stir fast to combine until there are no lumps.

3. Combine egg whites with the mascarpone and yolks mix. Fold together from the bottom to the top so you don't lose the air in the whites.

4.To assemble, prepare individual cups by sifting cocoa powder to coat bottom of the cup.

5. Then layer a scoop of cream on top.

6. Next dip the cookies into the cooled coffee (and liquor if desired) enough to soak, but not drench.

7. Then sprinkle the chocolate cocoa powder to cover the bottom layer - enough to cover it.

8. Finish with another layer of cream and finally more cocoa powder for presentation. You can put cookies on top if you want, but you don't have to. It's pretty with just the cocoa powder.

Italy Day 6, 7 & 8

2011-10-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

If you haven't gotten the hint already, we did ALOT on our trip. We didn't do a ton of relaxing, there was way too much to see. So, keeping with the theme - we headed out of Sorrento the next morning and headed to Pompeii.

Day 6 - Leave Sorrento, Spend a few hours in Pompeii, Travel to Florence.

We arrived in Pompeii and spent about 2 hours there. Pompeii is an ancient town that was demolished by Mt. Vesuvius (the mountain in the background - can you picture a triangle on the top). It erupted before Christ. You can imagine, they didn't really know what a volcano was. It killed 2,000 people, but 18,000 people were able to escape.

It was really amazing to walk around such an old historic sight. They basically uncovered this too. It was preserved by all of the ash that landed on the sight. Including the humans.

These are part of the public baths in the city. I was always so intrigued by this when I read about them in books. They sound so cool. Not nearly as big as I pictured them.

This was also in the baths - the statues represented "locker" areas where people could leave their belongings.

This was a "fast food" restaurant. The holes are where they would put the pots and you would come in and order what you wanted.

And the small amphitheater where they would have their own gladiator fights, theater, etc.

After Pompeii, we got back on the train, and headed to Florence. This was our hotel in Florence. This was only one of the rooms, but where we spent the majority of time. I LOVED all the windows surrounding the room. It was so pretty.

This was the view out of one of our windows. This is the dome to the "Duomo" - the famous church in Florence. The bells were really loud! :)

We then went out and explored the city a bit for fun, walking around, checking out the Duomo from the outside, finding the piazzas in the city, and enjoying dinner.

This is the Duomo. I just think the colors and ornateness are so pretty. One of the prettiest churches over all. It was SOO crowded here all the time though.

Just taking it all in!

What a photographer won't do for a good shot! :)

Look - Tim found his own shop! (that's what they called the network there - like AT&T - ha)

We had dinner at a quaint little restaurant with a back patio.

We started with Caprese (I think we had this everywhere!) and an antipasta plate (that's liver to the right - yuck!, but Fried Brie in the middle - YUM!)

I had a dish with pears and walnuts in a light sauce, and Archie had a pesto gnocchi. Pretty good overall.

On the walk back to our hotel, we saw this cool castle looking thing. It was actually a hotel/restaurant, but I thought it was pretty cool.

We also saw the Ponte Vechio (which is a bridge over the Arno River) all lit up. Very cool.

Day 7 - Museum Day in Florence

I don't have many pictures from this day because most of the museums wouldn't allow pictures. So, it's a pretty short recap. We first woke up, ready to go hike the 450 stairs to the top of the dome of the Duomo. Again with the heights!!! Who do my friends think I am!?! :) We got up at 8, got out of the hotel by 8:15, ready to be in line by 8:20 (no shower needed since we were hiking 450 stairs - we'd do that afterwards) for the dome to open at 8:30 and avoid the line. Only to find out that the dome isn't open on Sundays. It is a church after all.... Darn! :)

We made the best of it however by going back, grabbing our breakfast from the hotel, taking it back to our room, and having our own little private worship service in our room with an ipod and each other! It was a really special moment for each of us I think.

After that we went to the Academia to see David, the Uffizi, and inside the Duomo - our tootsies were toast by the end of the day.

The inside is just as pretty as the outside. Really quite ornate.

Later that evening, we had dinner, and this was one of my favorite meals on the entire trip. Balsamic Risotto. I know the picture doesn't do it justice. I didn't take my camera that night, so this was taken with the iphone. But seriously! You really have to like balsamic for this one, but the flavor was insane! I plan on trying to replicate this one.

Day 8 - Explore Florence

So, on this day, we tried the dome again, with success!! It was quite the trek to the top, and I had to take a few breathers along the way. Not so much the steps, but the heights... and the twisty stairs.... and the claustrophobic hallways. yikes.

Halfway up, they did the terrace thing again, looking down into the church, but you could also see the dome. Archie took these pictures because I had to skidaddle out of there or risk losing my cookies or having a panic attack.

Once we got to the top, I felt a bit better. I just stayed close to the wall, but the view was gorgeous. It reminded me of a historic view of the Silicon Valley. The fog rolling over the hills, mountains in the distance, buildings down in the valley. Really spectacular.

We then went and toured the San Lorenzo market and the Centrale Market. The Centrale Market is a big building filled with booths of individual vendors. Meats, cheeses, vegetables, oh my!

This was one of the best booths in the market - Conti. I met a lady who works there who is from San Francisco!!! She works there 2 months of the year, and they are planning to start a flagship store in San Francisco this year. The tomatoes from up above are from there, and they were the BEST sundried tomatoes I've ever had! You can currently purchase their products online!

They also had samples of cheese and salami in the Centrale Market as well. I was in heaven!

We of course picked up a picnic here, and took it to the steps of a church in town. Cheese, sundried tomatoes, bread, salami - all fresh from the market!

We discovered "Lemon Soda" while we were there. It was so good. Basically just lemonade that was carbonated - but we really liked it. We thought maybe they might want to use our picture as their advertisement! Then maybe they would pay all of us to move to Italy! :)

We continued to explore the city some, stopped for a cappuccino and a $6 gelato.. yeah, that's right, $6 gelato - it was supposed to only be $1.50, but when we told them we were sitting at the restaurant, they ripped my gelato out of my hand, and then brought me this fanciness. It was mango and panna cotta flavors. Good, but not sure it was quite worth $6.

We were pooped after a busy two days, so we just stuck around the hotel this evening, ordered pizza (that was delivered to us - even in Italy!), and played several games. I had to take this picture to prove - that even among friends - I still can kick some tail in Boggle. (Archie always thinks I can only beat him!)

Tomorrow is the big day!!! You'll get to hear all about my cooking class I took there in Florence. I was slightly under the weather, but don't worry, I took step by step photos and have lots of good things to share! You DON'T want to miss it!

Italy Day 3, 4, & 5

2011-10-17T22:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! Hope you enjoyed the quick tour of Rome yesterday. We have a tiny bit more of Rome left, then on to the Amalfi Coast! Breathtaking I tell ya!

Day 3 - Rome - travel to Amalfi Coast -- Sorento.

The next morning, we headed back over to the Pantheon. We wanted to see it in the daytime, and we wanted to go inside. It was really pretty cool. We only stayed for about 15 minutes because we only had an hour total to do all the last minute things we wanted to do in Rome before we had to check out of the hotel.

This is my handsome hubby in the piazza outside the Pantheon. He's listening to his free Rick Steve's audio tour on the Pantheon. I could never catch him candidly!

Our friends Rick and Amanda told us about this gelato place... and our guide book said it had the best gelato in Italy. But we went at 10 in the morning, and it was closed. This is our sad face!! We asked a local where it was so we could take a picture by it, and they looked at us like we were insane for asking where a gelato shop was at 10 in the morning! :) We weren't going to eat it then... well, maybe we would have if it had been open! :)

We then went back over to the Trevi Fountain (right by our bed and breakfast) to catch a glimpse during the daytime.

We also, of course, had to do the obligatory throwing in of the coin. It's a fountain after all. They must clean this fountain a lot, because there weren't very many coins in there, and the place was ALWAYS packed out!!

After this, we headed by cab to the train station, by train to Naples, by tram to the port in Naples, then by boat to Sorrento! That's a whole lot of modes of transportation in one day! But this is what we arrived to in Sorrento. Absolutely stunning! The city of Sorrento is up on top of the cliffs.

None of our hotels the entire trip had less than four flights of stairs. Lots of good workout time on this trip. Usually, we had to carry our suitcases up too, but this time... they had a little cargo carrier!!! It was awesome. It was mechanical and brought them right up! Amazing!

This was the view of the main street from our terrace at our hotel. Really beautiful city. Of course it was a bit loud at night, but that's okay.

We explored the city a bit before heading out for some dinner. I had the wild mushroom risotto, and Archie had a cheese and tomato gnocchi.

We walked around the city and explored the market, enjoying the views and stepping into a bunch of churches.

Day 4 - Sorrento

Day 4 was a day of exploration! I got up early and went for a run in the city. It's a pretty small city, so there wasn't much chance of getting lost. It's such a good way to really see a city. I ran in Sorrento, Florence and Venice, and loved it! We stopped by a local market to grab a picnic (one of our staple lunches throughout the trip) of fresh bread, salami, and cheese. Add a few marinated olives and sundried tomatoes, and we were happy campers. We took the lunch along with us for the day.

While at the market, we saw some of the freshest produce we'd ever seen. This area, Sorrento, is known for it's lemons as well. They grow several varieties, and are even known to mix a hybrid of lemons and oranges together. Look how gigantic that lemon on the left is!!! We also got yelled at for touching the lemons. It's a no-no to touch the fruit here apparently! Whoops.

This was their speed limit sign! Ha Thought it was pretty funny.

We then walked through a lemon grove - right in the middle of the city. It was beautiful, and several of the trees were ready for harvesting. Don't forget to act like an Italian model when you're in the lemon grove.

We did a tasting of the Lemoncello they make on sight at the lemon grove. It was pretty tasty. We had to go ahead and get some.

We took a walk down towards the water and found a little park bench to have our picnic on. This just so happened to be our view. Ah-ma-zing! It was one of the best picnics we had on the trip. (the other was in Vernazza - wait, just wait for that one!)

While we were sitting there eating, we happened to notice this little run down building overlooking the water. It was so cute, quaint, and the perfect bed and breakfast potential!!! It even had this awesome back patio overlooking the sea that would be great for meals and evening fire pit options! We appropriately dreamed of owning said bed and breakfast, escaping life as we know it, and naming it "Vivianna & Rebibi's". HA. Here's to wishful thinking. But it's perfect!

We then took a walk up to the very top of the hill so we could overlook Sorrento. It really is such a gorgeous town. I love all of the colorful boats and their little "laying out" space. :)

We went to dinner this night at this amazing restaurant called the Inn Buffalita. It had awesome salads, pasta, everything, but they specialized in Buffalo Mozzarella, and buffalo meat. It was so good, that I forgot to take pictures. SORRY! But don't worry, the plot thickens soon! :)

We had dessert at this awesome little shop - awesome gelato! I had caramalized fig gelato, Jen had baba - a cake soaked in rum, and look at these Meringue's. They are SOO huge!

We then headed back to the hotel and played some cards on our balcony. Enjoyed the evening, and the very loud music coming from the gelato slash discotec under our room! :)

Day 5 - Day trip to Positano & evening in Sorrento

We woke up and took a bus over to Positano... we definitely risked our life by doing this, (this picture really doesn't give it credit how crazy it was), but we made it! Whew.

When we got there, we realized that it was totally worth risking our lives, and missing our stop for these amazing views! Positano, situated on the Amalfi Coast is stunningly gorgeous.

We, of course, stopped for a picnic at a deli, and got some baked goods at a bakery and took them down to the beach.

We rented these chairs and umbrella's and spent a few hours just basking in the sun on the Mediterranean.

The beach was really beautiful.

It was a pretty surreal moment to be sitting in the sun on the Mediterranean!

And of course, what trip to the Mediterranean would be complete without doing a little searching for some sea glass.

We then drove back to Sorrento on the treacherous bus, with amazing views again of the Amalfi Coast.

After a quick rest back at the hotel, we had our afternoon snack on the terrace.

On our walk to dinner, we found this graffiti on a wall. Ti Amo means "My Love" in Italian - just thought it was pretty cute!

For dinner, we headed back to Inn Buffalito - it was SOOO good the night before that we had to go back. We ended up having the same waitress - who was hilarious, and she teased us, made jokes with us, and treated us like royalty. She even brought us this champagne on the house to toast us coming back a second night. :)

We started the meal with a Capri salad - buffalo mozzarella, the ripest tomatoes you've ever seen, and arugula drizzled with balsamic.

We also had a caponato salad with bread, mozzarella, olives and tomatoes. It was also delicious. Even if it doesn't really look like it in this picture.

Then we moved on to an antipasto plate (which I'm sorry, I know it doesn't look appetizing in this picture - the light was bad), which had sundried tomatoes, a giant pile of buffalo mozzarella, salami, french green beans, and buffalo meat. Again, so so good.

Then we all split family style the lasagna, ragu with buffalo meat, and gnocchi with tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. This restaurant was one of the best we went to. It was a real treat.

Stay tuned for Day 6... Pompeii and onto Florence!

Italy - Day 1 & 2

2011-10-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Buona Sera,

I know it's been a while. We are officially back from Italy, although my body still feels like it might be there. Jet lag, combined with 25 straight hours of travel on the way home (after only 5 hours sleep the night before), and going straight back to work the next day does not a happy body make!

Sorry it's taken me a while to get any updates on here, but that's just the way it is. :)

I thought I would do a recap of our trip in 2 day increments for the next week, and include some recipes. So if you don't care a thing about Italy, pictures of amazing architecture and food, and recipes of homemade Italian cuisine, you should probably tune out for the next week. But why in the world would you do that? So, without further ado, welcome to Italy!!! I know you're going to love it!

DAY 1 :

Leave San Francisco - flight to Paris/layover in Paris - arrive in Rome

Off we go - We flew AirFrance, and had a great experience! P.S. This is Tim and Jen (aka "Viviana and Doneroso"). We went together, so you'll see them a lot!

We had a 9 1/2 hour flight to Paris, and Paris airport was completely unorganized. We taxied for 30 minutes out on the runway, had to wait for buses to come shuttle us from the plane to the terminal, and missed our next flight. This is the ceiling in the airport. Very cool!

The perk of missing your flight?? Getting rescheduled into first class on the next flight - leaving only 1 hour after the original!!! This was our "snack" they gave us instead of pretzels!! Plus we got a meal voucher we used in the Paris airport.

We arrived in Rome, checked into our hotel, and went out to do a bit of exploring for the evening. But first, we needed to have our first Italian meal. Unfortunately, we walked over to a more touristy piazza, and sort of got suckered with an "okay" meal. I had pizza with mozzarella and mushrooms.

Archie had the Cacio de Pepe (Spaghetti with Black Pepper). We had this many other times, and this was definitely not the best one. Oh, well. We are in Italy!!!!

On our way home, our walk takes us down small, quaint alley's or via's. They are beautiful, surrounded by gorgeous homes, architecture, and then suddenly, you would walk into an opening or piazza. One of the piazza's we stumbled upon contained the Pantheon! It's so crazy, you're just walking down the street, and then there's the Pantheon. I thought it photographed so beautifully at night!

We had our first of MANY gelato stops that night too! I had zabione (zabaglione in English - see my recipe here) and chocolate. To die for! It was the one and only time I saw zabione flavored gelato. Glad I found it that night!

Our B&B was right around the corner from the Trevi Fountain, in fact it was called 3 Coins B&B. The fountain was seriously, so beautiful. Again, I had to capture it at night, it was so gorgeous!

We went to bed a bit early this night- since we technically didn't really get much sleep the night before on the plane. We had a FULL day of Rome touring the next day.

DAY 2 - Vatican Tour, Coliseum & Forum Tour, Spanish Steps

We began our tour at the Vatican. It was so beautiful. There is no way to capture on camera the beauty of this place. It's really stunning. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, but it was also amazing.

There are fountains all over every city that you can just fill up your water bottles and such. We borrowed a Platypus (similar to a camelback) from Tim and Jen, put it in our backpack, and it was such a lifesaver. Saved us probably hundreds of dollars on buying water bottles. You wouldn't believe how fresh the water tasted too! Not like our water fountains at all.

This is the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. It's so gorgeous. You'll get to see the inside of it in a little bit.

Stairs inside the Vatican museums. I just thought they were so cool. I wish I could have caught it with no people on here, but I would have been waiting all day. I think this would look so cool framed!

Outside the Vatican in the square by St. Peter's Basilica.

This is the shrine created where Peter was buried. It was seriously amazing to see where Peter - who talked and walked with Jesus was buried!! Awe inspiring.

Look at the ornateness of this church. To think that this was built thousands of years ago before the technology we have today is completely insane! This is the dome of the inside of St. Peter's like I mentioned before.

After we went in the church, we proceeded to climb - 525 stairs in dark, claustrophobic hallways to the top of St. Peter's Basilica.... Did I mention I was scared of heights before? No, yeah, I'm scared of heights!!! Big time. I tried to play it cool, like I was a big girl and it didn't really bother me. I didn't want to be the whiney, complainey girl off to the side making a big deal about it. But really my insides were screaming. This is the Vatican square from the top of the dome.

Halfway there - you have to go outside the stairs, continue to look up to where you're going to, and then walk in this treacherous terrace looking down INTO the church. You've gotta be kidding me. But at least I got a gorgeous picture out of it! :)

Made it to the top! Whew. It is a beautiful view.... but do you see how tight I'm holding on! :)

So, this is pretty cool. The triangle shaped building to the right is the Pope's apartments. The last window on the right is his bedroom, and the one right next to it is his study. I would have never thought it would have been quite so accessible.

The front of St. Peter's Basilica.

Next we headed towards the coliseum, but not without a little stop for some pizza, and of course, you gotta see nuns hopping on the subway when you're by the Vatican. :) haha. How cute.

As soon as we walked into the coliseum, this was the first sight. It was so amazing to walk around this very real part of history.

We took a tour of the coliseum (by "Barbara" - pronounced Bawbada, ha) and learned some really amazing things. I won't bore you with all of these details - but one of the most interesting things they told us was that this was not where the Christians were actually killed in the gladiator games. It was actually in a different coliseum.

The outside of the coliseum. It is really quite an amazing structure.

We used the Rick Steve's free iphone app for audio tours, which was a really cool thing to have. Free, great information, you could listen to it in double time, and it narrowed down what was important in some of the big areas that you could get lost in.

We then walked across the street to the Forum - kind of like the old downtown/political center. It was very cool, however my feet were like jello at this point! I love this green door!

This is the front porch/veranda of Julius Caesar's house. Yes, I said that right.... Julius Caesar!!! Talk about surreal!

We tried to pose like the Italian models! haha. Stick out your collarbones ladies! :)

Coming out of the "baths" area of Julius Caesar's house.

These were the views from the veranda at Julius Caesar's digs. Quite breathtaking, huh?!

We then headed back to the hotel for a quick clean up and some yoga stretches for the feet/legs! :) Then headed over to the Spanish steps as well as dinner at a really amazing restaurant. My pasta had a pomodoro sauce and mozzarella. So so good!!!

We then hit the hay! We were exhausted! So much walking, stair climbing, and history.

Stay tuned for Day 3 & 4!

A Dream Come True

2011-09-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

5 years ago, my husband bought me this as a stocking stuffer, promising me that one day he wanted to take me.

(via)

After 5 years, lots of waiting, a lot of good times, a whole lot of bad times, a cross-country move, new jobs, getting out of debt, and plenty of Italian meals -

We Are Headed To Italy!!

(via)

I can't wait to tell you all about it, and bore you with pictures for a month when I get back.

Happy Fall!

2011-09-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall Ya'll!!

That's my Southern Girl talk for - I LOVE FALL!! I know I just might have mentioned on this blog at least 5 times how much I love the fall, so of course there's going to be a recipe dedicated to the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!!

What's the first day of fall without 90 degree weather?? California, known for 75 degree weather year-round, and being one of the most beautiful weather states in the entire U.S. has officially hit a heat wave. It does not feel like fall today, but I've heard we're in for a cool down this weekend. Cue in jackets, pumpkin spice lattes, and early morning weekend runs that have a little bit of a nip in the air. Perfection!

These little muffin doughnuts are a yummy little taste of fall. They have the consistency of little doughnuts - full of air, soft and yummy, but they bake up in muffin pans - no rising, yeast, or frying needed! A slightly healthier version of a fall-flavored munchkin (ahh! Dunkin Doughnuts how I miss you!). I followed the original recipe for the topping for half the batch and covered with sugar, and then I made a slight adaption to the Pioneer Women's cinnamon roll maple icing and dipped the rest of them in there. I think hands-down, the maple icing was the hit! With the addition of the nutmeg in the doughnut, it truly is a little taste of heaven in your mouth!

Baked Doughnut Muffins (Adapted from: La Mia Via Dolce)

Print Recipe Here

Ingredients:

For Doughnuts

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (preferably Mexican vanilla)

For Topping/Icing

1 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar, for rolling

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
5-6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (until thin enough to dip doughnuts without them crumbling)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 3 mini muffin tins with oil (I used my pampered chef spritzer, and it worked great... no sticking)
2. In a large bowl, beat together egg and the sugar until light and fluffy.
You really can't make doughnuts without coffee.. it's a sin!

3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and the nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture slowly and stir to combine using hand mixer.

4. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla. Mix together until smooth.

5. Divide batter evenly among mini muffin pans, filling them about 3/4 of the way up.

6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow them to cool slightly.

7. While muffins are cooling right after baking, melt the butter and brush over the tops of the muffins. Dip the tops into bowl with sugar. Cool

AND/OR: Combine all ingredients for icing in small bowl and beat together until smooth/creamy. Dip tops of muffins into icing and allow to cool.

The Last of Summer's Glory

2011-09-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been a little absent lately.....

But I've been a bit preoccupied......

I had babies in my house!

Two of them!!!

Some of the cutest babies you will ever see!

And they're twins!

Our good friends Aimee and Chris were down for a quick visit and for Chris to pick up his degree - oh, I mean become a DOCTOR! :) We've been calling him Dr. Chris all week.

We kept talking them into staying a little longer and a little longer, and before you know it, they were supposed to leave on Monday, and I convinced them to stay until Friday!! :) It made me happy.

Is this not the sweetest picture you've ever seen!!

We had so much fun, Who knew sitting around, watching youtube videos, cooking dinners together, watching babies do funny things, playing a card game, and just enjoying each other's company could result in such a heartfelt time? Oh yeah, we had a graduation, and a graduation party in there too! :) (I'll share some fun pictures from the party/decor soon) So please indulge me while I share a few baby pictures!

While they were here, the temperatures soared up into the mid 90's, and then by the end of the week, fall appeared in the Bay Area (at least for a few days), and it's been high of 69 degrees during the day, and down in the low 50's at night. So we decided to soak up the last little bits of summer, and then officially take on fall!

This lemonade is made from fresh raspberries, fresh squeezed lemons, and a little bit of love. It's sweet and tart at the same time, and the best way to enjoy those lovely little berries that are popping up just a bit less at the stores right now. Savor them while you can! Then it's on to pumpkins!!

Oh, don't worry, I've already moved on... you know how I love the fall.

Fresh Raspberry Lemonade (By:Me)

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

6-8 lemons, juiced (depending on how sour you want it - I did 6)

zest of 4 lemons

2 cups raspberries

additional 5-6 cups water

Garnish:

lemon slices

raspberries

ice

Preparation:

1. In a microwave-safe container, place the 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water. Heat for approximately 2 1/2 minutes or until all sugar is dissolved. Pour into a pitcher

2. Juice lemons and place juice into pitcher with sugar water.

3. In a food processor or blender, place raspberries and lemon zest and pulse on high until completely pureed. Strain raspberries through a fine sieve or strainer to remove seeds. Place strained raspberry juice into the same pitcher with the juice and sugar water. Whisk all ingredients together.

4. Add additional cold water to taste preference and refrigerate until chilled. Serve with garnish.

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Blue Cheese

2011-08-29T21:08:00.001-07:00

I love Buffalo Sauce! I like it on hot wings, Buffalo chicken pizza, in buffalo ranch chicken dip, just about anything. I'll find something to put it on.

I also like to eat hot wings - but I'm a HUGE wuss. I love the buffalo wing flavor, but I have to eat it in mild form, or else my nose starts running, my eyes are watering, and I start panting like a dog because it's so hot! (at least to me).

Last week, Archie and I went on our date night to Smoke Eaters. It's a local wings bar and grill type restaurant that was featured on man vs. food on the Travel Channel. They have a "hellfire challenge" that requires you to eat 12 of their hottest wings in 10 minutes with no drinks and no napkins.

Can I just say... I think that is INSANE!!! When we were there, we saw a guy attempt. Notice, I said attempt. He ate about 2 and a half and he was literally drooling and snotting all over the place, waving his hands around, and screaming. People were taking video of him, poor guy! I bet he didn't think that when he was getting taped, he wasn't going to finish all of them. The worst part is, the only thing you get is a polaroid picture of yourself and a t-shirt if you do it.

Really??? That's all??? What's the point! :) I'm sorry for those of you who have it in you to try things like this. I'm definitely not an adventurer!

In my effort to create a MILD version of the buffalo flavor, I attempted this buffalo chicken grilled cheese sandwich. I saw a version on Pinterest. (P.S. Have you joined Pinterest yet?? If not, you should! It's amazing. You can follow me here). I needed to tweak it a bit since I didn't really care for mayonnaise being the base of my sandwich. So, I ended up changing half the recipe, but the final result was awesome!

I used Frank's buffalo sauce with ranch and blue cheese and the combo was quite tasty!

Buffalo Chicken Grilled Blue Cheese Sandwiches (Adapted from: Closet Cooking)

Serves 4

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped/shredded

1/3 cup ranch dressing (I used a light version)

1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot wing sauce (or other version of wing sauce, I just like Frank's the best)

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

8 slices crusty bread (I used sourdough, and it was delicious)

Preparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine shredded chicken, ranch, wing sauce and blue cheese and stir to combine.

2. Butter slices of bread, and layer chicken mixture on top, spreading evenly among the four sandwiches.

3. Cook over low-medium heat until browned on both sides and chicken mixture is warmed through and cheese is melted. Enjoy!!

Dreaming... (and a yummy Italian salad)

2011-08-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

I'm dreaming of Italy....

(via)

Cinque Terre, the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, so many wonderful things to see and do...

(via)

A cooking class, taxi rides in boats, hiking, reading, shopping, eating..... lots and lots of eating....

As the trip is getting closer (just a month away!!!), I'm getting so excited. Anyone been? Have any good recommendations of must see places or eats?

In anticipation, Archie and I spent a few hours at an "Italia Festa" in our local Little Italy. It was very Americanized, but it was fun to anticipate a bit about what's to come!

So many colors, so much food, delish!

Fried Zuchinni Rounds - made fresh!

The hubs got 'sausage and peppers' - looks disgusting to me, but hey, to each his own.

Yum Yum!

He's a handsome guy!

Sfingi - crazy good little Italian doughnuts. Fried dough - what more can I say.

We are going with some friends to Italy, and we've made it a tradition, that when we get together to plan anything, we MUST have an Italian meal. It only seems right.

The last time we got together, I made this delicious salad! Heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, and a kalamata olive vinaigrette. It's topped with a healthy dose of chopped basil which add such a fantastic touch .

Beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes

This recipe is simple and quick, and perfect for those last of the summer beautiful red and juicy tomatoes. My friend Erin made this wonderful salad for me and was kind enough to pass on the recipe - so I have no idea where it originates from since she was kind enough to jot it down on a yellow steno. :)

Heirloom Tomato & Mozzarella Salad with Kalamata Olive Dressing (From: Erin)

Ingredients:

For dressing -

3/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup kalamata olives

5 tablespoons red wine vinegar

For Salad -

5 ounces fresh mixed greens

3 pounds heirloom tomatoes

1 pound fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

Preparation:

1. Place kalamata olives and red wine vinegar in food processor or blender. Begin to process and drizzle in olive oil until completely blended/emulsified. Set aside.

2. Chop tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Line lettuce on large serving platter, then layer with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Drizzle vinaigrette on top. I drizzled a bit, and served the rest on the side so everyone could decide how much they wanted. Serve, and enjoy!

Salted Caramel Corn

2011-08-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Whew.... is it really only Tuesday??

It feels like it should be at least Thursday....

I feel like I'm recuperating from last week, when Archie and I had something going on EVERY single night of the week. How do we let our schedules get that way?

We keep saying we're going to slow down, and then we turn around and we have something booked for all week. This week we mandated ourselves to have nothing going on... but my body is only just beginning to catch up from the madness of a crazy busy week, and a fun, but busy weekend!

There is something really fun about having a lot going on, and having a full schedule, and seeing lots of people, enjoying and connecting with others. We love it, sometimes we thrive off of it... but there's also a need to just be still every once in a while, enjoy time together, and just sit on the couch and do nothing! Date nights are also crucial for us... and when we jam pack our schedule, we feel like our eyes are drooping when we're out having a date night.

Salted Caramel Corn over coffee bean ice cream.... yes, please!

My time alone with God suffers too... I find myself going to bed late, and then I wake up late as a result. I sleep in until the very last possible second with leaving myself just enough time to get ready for work, and in the midst of it - I nix my time to sit out on the back porch, journal, Bible, and coffee in hand, and embrace all that God has for me that day. Then I'm running out the door, hurried, rushed, and with a bad attitude - and it isn't even 9am.

So, this week, we're just relaxing! Going to bed early.... getting back into good habits... enjoying date night... having a little fun too, but overall we're readjusting!

Can anyone else relate?? Why is it that when we ask people how they are, everyone ALWAYS says, "Good.... but busy!".

Anywho, Here's some super yummy caramel corn - not just any caramel corn, but salted caramel corn! YUM. It has a pinch of saltiness with caramely, buttery sweetness, and mixed together makes a great snack or dessert. And if you feel so inclined, add a little chocolate drizzled on top, and it reminds me of Harry and David's Moose Munch... YUM!

Salted Caramel Corn in a cone... which reminds me of the fair in the fall... and we all know how much I love fall! :)

Salted Caramel Corn (Adapted from Food 52)

PRINT RECIPE

ingredients:

POPCORN

3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

1/2 cup white corn kernals

CARAMEL

1 cup brown sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 ounces milk or semisweet chocolate

1/2 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spray sheet pan with cooking spray and set it aside for later.

2. In a large stock pot or dutch oven, add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat with 3 kernels of the popcorn. Place the lid on top and wait until you hear the popcorn pop. That's when you know the oil is hot enough to add the rest.

3. Once you hear them pop, add the rest of the popcorn with the lid almost all the way on, and continue popping until it slows, almost stopping. Check them at this point, because nobody likes burnt popcorn! :) Remove from heat, set in a bowl, and set aside.

4. In a separate small saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and salt. Bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to allow caramel mixture to simmer, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and add in vanilla - allow to cool slightly.

6. Pour caramel mixture over popcorn in bowl and mix thoroughly, allowing popcorn to be fully coated. You might have to use your hands for this step.

7. Spread popcorn evenly and in one single layer over baking tray, and I sprinkled with a bit of extra brown sugar for luck. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. If popcorn is still mushy at 30 minutes, cook for another 10 minutes. Popcorn will not be "dry" at this point, but should be crunchy. Spread onto parchment paper to allow to cool.

8. Mix together 3 ounces chocolate and oil and heat until melted. Drizzle mixture over cooled popcorn and allow to harden (I threw mine in the freezer for a few minutes). Break apart with spoon into smaller pieces, and enjoy! Store in a tupperware or sealable container to keep from getting stale and mushy.

National Smore's Day

2011-08-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Did you know today is National Smore's Day!?!?! I think it seems kind of funny to have Smore's Day in the summer - but I guess it goes with camping. I just think of Smore's as a fall thing.

Chocolate Marshmallows

I had to post something to celebrate... something like National Smore's Day can't just be ignored!

chocolate of every kind

I've been asked a couple times to post these pictures, but I kept putting it off. Well, I'm glad I did, because today was the perfect day! :) This was a party that my sister and I threw for my brother-in-law when he graduated from college. He's a huge outdoorsy guy - loves camping, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking... you name it. So we wanted to do something fun for the party - along the lines of a dessert table, but something that wouldn't feel like a feminine dessert bar. It needed to feel at least partly masculine.

Desserts, marshmallows of every kind, pretty little decorations

This was such a good way to do it... make everyone at the party happy, and do a little something special to celebrate him as well. We had a fire pit outside to let everyone heat up their smore's, and lots of other options for those opting to ditch the smore's (how dare they! ;) )

We added a few little touches of decorations by spray painting mini pumpkins fun fall colors just to add a little splash, and apples sliced and cored with cinnamon sticks used as cups for cider and punch.

Gilded Pumpkins

Apple Cider Cups

And of course, it wouldn't be a smore's party unless you put the large marshmallow in the microwave to see just how large it will get! Seriously.... the size of a loaf of bread. Craziness. I mean, you can see the paper plate - it's overflowing.

And then of course, there's always cute little nieces eating caramel apples to liven up all parties as well! :) Couldn't have a smore's party without that! ;)
So, go out and celebrate Smore's Day with a little party of your own.

Did you celebrate National Smore's Day?

Any Dessert Table Pics you have to share?

Fresh Green Bean & Fingerling Potato Salad & A Few of My Current Loves

2011-07-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

A few of my favorite things right now:

1. The idea that fall is just a few weeks away! I'm so ready for fall.... particularly fall in California.

2. "So You Think You Can Dance" - One of the fun parts about summer! My favorites right now are Melanie and Caitlyn - I'm a week behind - so nobody tell me any recent results.

3. Toms - They are super cute, go with everything, comfortable, and best of all - they go towards a really good cause. The fact that they give a pair of shoes to someone in need when you buy a pair makes it truly awesome! These are my newest pair.... they called them "mustard yellow cords" on the web page. I renamed them "grasshopper green".

4. Estate Sales - They.... are... brilliant! I have been looking for a cute vintage bistro set for our back patio for a while, and couldn't find one that wasn't an arm and a leg. Well, just hop on over to your nearest estate sale - on the last day of the sale of course - and what do you know! Cute bistro set, table cloth and fun vintage milk glass dessert plates. And for an AMAZING deal. Way cheaper than I had found anywhere, and they even kept telling me a cheaper price. Think they might have given us stuff if we'd stayed a little longer! (Pardon the picture - it was taken with my iphone).

5. Printable recipes attached to my blog!! Thanks so much for all the feed back on my last post! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to respond to all of your kind words! It gives me hope that you are using the recipes! :) So, in light of the amazing responses I got... I've added a print recipe feature. I'm going to be playing around with it some to see what works best, so tell me how you like it, and what I can do differently to make it work for you all. For now, the print recipe link is directly under the recipe name below!!! Enjoy!

6. This Potato Salad - Full of flavor! You can have it hot or cold! Microwaveable!!! The whole recipe takes less than 10 minutes. Fantastic! Super yummy and healthy. Hope you love it too.

Fresh Green Bean & Fingerling Potato Salad (From: Better Homes & Gardens):

Print Recipe

ingredients:

1 lb fingerling or new potatoes, halved

1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

2 Tbsp. white or red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. fresh parsley

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup pitted Nicoise or kalamata olives, halved

preparation:

1. Place halved potatoes into a 2-quart microwave-safe casserole dish. Top with green beans. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and place in the microwave for 7-9 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring once. Drain.

2. For vinaigrette, in a screw-top jar or cruet, combine oil, chopped shallot, vinegar, parsley, Dijon mustard, pepper and the 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cover and shake well until fully combined.

3. In a small bowl, combine green bean and potato mixture, vinaigrette, and olives; toss gently to coat. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve immediately or chill completely and serve cold. Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate Fluffernutter Bars

2011-07-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when I'm writing this blog, I really question whether or not I have something interesting enough to say for anyone to actually read it.

Then I question why anyone would read my blog when there are literally thousands of cooking blogs out there.

I'm not a professional chef/cook, I'm not a professional writer, and I most definitely am not a professional photographer.

There are far better pictures to look at, stories to read, and recipes to make. Most of the time, I don't even create my own recipes. I like to change and adapt what I see, and every now and then I can create something of my own, but like I said.... not a professional chef.

I can really let it discourage me if I let myself. I can get discouraged that I don't have more readers than others, or that I didn't get as many comments on certain recipes, and all kinds of little things that get me down.

Insecurity is a nasty little bug.... it tricks us into believing the most awful things about ourself, and what God has gifted each and every one of us to do and even how we could use our gifts. Of course I'm not exactly like someone else's blog - but who would want to read my blog if I was. Of course I may not be the best photographer or writer - but I am me! And that is a beautiful thing.

This week, I have posted this scripture in my work calendar, so that several times a day, I've been able to look at it - and the meaning behind it sustains me - especially in the times when the insecurity bug strikes.

"And I pray, that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and how long, and how high and how deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all fullness of God."

Ephesians 4:170-20

P.S. - These chocolate fluffernutter bars are seriously delicious. You will love them. And if the weather is hot, and you don't have air conditioning in your house, just set them out, and everyone will think you just pulled them out of the oven instead of making them the day before!

P.P.S - I have been thinking about adding printable recipes (if I can get it all figured out), or at the very least a full recipe version at the end. Any thoughts? Like it, hate it, don't care? okay.

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cake Bars (Adapted from Picky Palate)

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 large egg

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

8 marshmallows

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

14 ounce can sweetened condensed

1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, using hand mixer or stand mixer, mix together the cake mix, softened butter, and egg until well combined. Press evenly in the 9x13 pan using fingers.

3. In a small sauce pan, combine marshmallows and corn syrup. Heat over medium heat until smooth and marshmallows are all melted evenly.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, and heated marshmallow mixture until smooth.

5. Pour fluffernutter mixture over cake dough mixture. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the marshmallows mixture.

6. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes. The middle will see like it is not set, and you'll want to cook a few more minutes, but don't worry - it's done. The middle will set up as it cools. Cool the bars completely and then cut into squares, and eat every single one of them all to yourself!!! ;)

It's Officially Summer Around Here

2011-06-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Summer has officially hit in California. And... it's HOT!

Well, we've had days of heat at least... for California that is. Nothing compared to my hometown counterpart of Charleston, SC where the temperatures have been record high. Can't say I miss that at all.

But the difference.... the BIG difference - is that almost everyone in Charleston has an air conditioner in their house. Sweet, lovely, beautiful air conditioning. Oh, how I miss it. In Northern California - it's a luxury in most houses. Especially when you live in a house built in the 1940's. It is an extremely cute and charming house, but there is no air conditioning. And when you walk into your house after a long day of work, and the thermostat says 93 degrees, you can choose to sit and complain - or make a ice cold fruit smoothie and sit on the back porch till 11:30... I chose option B! ;) okay.. maybe I sat on the back porch, drank a cold fruit smoothie and complained a little bit (a lot) how hot it was.

In the spirit of summer, I thought this yummy blue cheese potato salad was a perfect recipe for an introduction to summer. It makes a perfect dinner all to itself on those days where it's so hot you're not even hungry. It also makes a lovely side dish for those awesome summer barbecues. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, so it makes it great to take with you to a barbecue where it might sit out for a bit. It would be perfect for a July 4th get together.

The bacon, shallots, and blue cheese meld together for the perfect marry of flavors for this! You'll definitely want to give this a try!

Blue Cheese Potato Salad (Adapted From: Simply Classic - Junior League of Seattle)

Ingredients:

Salad

4 pounds small, red new potatoes, unpeeled

1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup heavy cream

12 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

3 tablespoons chives or green onions, minced

Dressing

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

salt and freshly ground pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup shallots, minced

2 tablespoons parsley, minced

Preparation

For dressing, mix vinegars, mustard, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in oil, then add shallots and parsley.

Steam or boil potatoes until just tender. Cool slightly and cut into 1/4-inch slices. Place in large bowl. Gently mix in 1/2 cup of the vinegar dressing mix into the potatoes.

Place potato mixture on a serving platter. Whisk blue cheese and cream into remaining dressing.

Spoon over potatoes. Top with crumbled bacon and chives. Serve warm or at room temperature.

A Surprise Celebration

2011-06-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

I have the sweetest husband in the world! :)

He knows me so well. Just take a look at these pictures, and it's amazing to see how much he knows me!

This is what I came home to!

Friday night to celebrate me getting a promotion and us paying off our student loans to be DEBT FREE, he completely surprised me with a dinner party... outside.... decorated to perfection! It looked like it came straight out of a magazine, and I don't think I could have decorated better myself!

Beautiful Table set-up. He's brilliant! :)

Every detail - down to flowers around the patio (compliments of my parents), glass mason jars filled with pretty candles, glass servers for water, buckets filled with fresh flowers, and the most perfect shade of blue accented throughout the table.

Perfect Summer Picnic

The setting was complete with a large outdoor canopy with party lights as well as an outdoor fireplace for the chilly California evening! (My husband knows how much I LOVE a fire)

Complete with garden accents, umbrella, and party lights!

It was perfect! He invited some good friends to help us celebrate and have dinner together. We had the best time, and laughed the night away!

An amazing night celebrated with friends and great food.

This is the kind of party I see in magazines all the time and dream about having! He made it all come together! :) He's pretty darn awesome....

After dinner, the fire pit kept the party going!

Enjoying the cool California evening!

My amazing husband! Thanks babe!

Truffled Deviled Eggs

2011-06-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

It's Summer!!

Vacations, lazy days, warm weather, barbecues.... the list goes on!

Summer also brings the start of life groups at our church, and I just started a cooking life group for the first time!

My friend Laura and I are leading it together, and we're very excited. It's part cooking class, part dinner party - conversation, learning together, eating together, and growing in life. We're using Shauna Niequist's book Bittersweet to guide conversation. It's perfect - it totally encompasses every part I wanted to include in this group. It's full of life, meaning, and inspiration. It's been a dream of mine to incorporate my cooking in some way like this, and it worked out perfect. Laura and I are so excited to be doing this together.

These deviled eggs are a perfect summer dish. The truffle oil adds just a touch of richness to this dish that is perfect. You can bring it to those barbecues we were talking about earlier, or you can make a batch and eat the WHOLE thing... by yourself! ;)

Truffled Deviled Eggs: (Adapted from: Food Network)

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

2 tablespoons truffle oil

pinch cayenne pepper

pinch of salt

Directions:

Place eggs in a large pot and cover by 1" with water. Place on stove over medium-high heat and set timer 25 minutes. When timer goes off, allow to cool. Peel eggs and slice in half. Place yolk in food processor.

Add in mayonnaise, truffle oil, cayenne pepper and salt.

Combine in food processor until well blended.

Scoop filling in or using icing piper or a ziplock bag with a small hole cut in corner, pipe filling into egg white halves. Enjoy!

A New Twist

2011-05-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

I did it... I finished my second half marathon. But not without a fight!

This time around was not easy! Not that the first one was a piece of cake, but it felt like it compared to this race. I had a really hard time.

There were a lot of factors going against me this time, including the fact that I had gotten the flu just 3 weeks before race day. Or that it was really windy that day. Or that I was stupid and ran the first seven miles WAY faster than my pace should have allowed. Or that I have a hamstring pull/issue thing going on and I had to stop at a few of the water stations and stretch it out.

I promise these aren't excuses! :) But it did make for an altogether bad run.

On one good note - I beat my time from the last half by 10 minutes! I only wish it had felt good.

Crossing the finish line After the race...yes we look nasty!

You may remember last summer that I posted about some delicious blackberry lemonade. I loved it... it was amazing... it tasted sooo good. And then I made it better.

This time, I made Blackberry Limeade. It is amazing! I have to say even more amazing than the lemonade. It's tart without being too much so. Limes have a great sweetness to them, and the mixture is perfect. So go on, go ahead and make yourself some.

Refreshing Blackberry Limeade (Adapted from Love and Olive Oil):

Ingredients:

3/4 cup raw or cane sugar
3 cups water (divided)
2 cups blackberries
3 limes, juiced
Ice

Directions:
In a microwave safe container, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Heat on high for 2 minutes. Remove from microwave and stir until sugar is dissolved. (You can do this on the stove by bringing the water to a boil and dissolving the sugar over medium heat - but microwave method is much quicker!) Set aside and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, juice the lemons, and in a large bowl or pitcher, muddle the blackberries with the lemon juice until very smooshed! :)
Pour in sugar syrup, remaining 2 cups water, and a few ice cubes and stir. I used my awesome Pampered Chef pitcher that has a mixer built in!

Pour over a glass of ice (you can strain the blackberry pulp - my pitcher got most of it, but I liked having a little in there). Garnish with a sprig of mint or lemon!

Must have for Spring!

2011-05-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

There's something about spring that makes you want fresh fruit! More than any other time, you just want to eat fresh fruit with everything. Obviously, it's a good season for strawberries and peaches, blackberries and raspberries. But what about fall when apples are in season? Or winter when oranges are? Don't get me wrong.... those fruits are awesome and yummy, but there is nothing like the spring and waiting for fresh, juicy, drip on your chin strawberries to start showing up for half off in the grocery store.

And last weekend was THE weekend for the start of fresh berry season. Easter allowed all of the fresh berry goodness to start!

Easter is always one of the biggest weekends of the year for us, and this year was no exception. Between training for a half marathon and needing to complete a 12-mile run on Saturday morning, having an Easter egg hunt for our community with over 10,000 people showing up at the two sites our church hosted, setting up on Saturday afternoon for our Easter services on Sunday, and then South Bay had 4 services on Sunday. We had 1,099 people in attendance (which is 400 more than any other Sunday we've had!) on Easter Sunday, which was truly amazing!

So, my husband thought I was nuts when I said I wanted to have a few people over for dinner on Sunday night for Easter dinner. But it was perfect! It was just a few of us who didn't have family in town to celebrate with, we all pitched in, and had the most amazing celebration meal to top a busy but wonderful weekend!

Part of my contribution was the fresh strawberry pie. Sweet, creamy with a cream cheese lemon layer, big juicy strawberries mixed in, and a crunchy vanilla sandwich cookie crust. A must for spring!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. (Click them to zoom in)

We had a contemporary dance during the service that was amazing! Think "So You Think You Can Dance"

Fresh Strawberry Pie (By: The Cooking Vent)

Ingredients:

For Crust:

10 ounces vanilla sandwich cookies (such as golden oreos or store brand vanilla cookies)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

For Filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup cool whip

1 tsp grated lemon zest

6 cups strawberries, hulled

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup water

a few drops red food coloring, if desired

Directions:

For crust:

1. In a food processor, crush sandwich cookies. Mix melted butter and sugar together until mixed well. Press into bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool.

For Filling:

2. In the food processor (or hand mixer) combine cream cheese, lemon zest, powdered sugar and cool whip until creamy.

3. Spread cream cheese mixture onto cooled pie crust.

4. In the food processor (or with a fork) crush enough strawberries to equal 1 cup.

In a small saucepan, place the sugar and cornstarch and mix, add in the 1/2 cup water and mashed strawberries gradually (along with the drops of red food coloring if you desire a deeper red color).

Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils. Boil for 1 minute and remove from heat and allow to cool.

5. Cut tops off of the remaining strawberries, and layer them on top of the cream cheese layer in pie plate.

Pour cooled filling over strawberry layer.

Allow to refrigerate at least 3 hours or until filling is set.

The Best Dessert in the World!

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A Few Random Facts:

- I read books at unreasonably ridiculous speed. What I mean is, I will usually read a book in about a day to a day and a half. I don't want to do anything else but read the book.

- My new iPhone has taken such ridiculous reading to new levels. I can read everywhere: the grocery store, the bathroom, red lights (I've NEVER done that....) while I cook dinner, while walking my dog. All while everyone thinks I'm just checking my phone not being a complete nerd and reading a book.

- I'm running my 2nd half marathon in a week, and I'm so over the training. Very much looking forward to this one being over with. Don't get me wrong, the benefits to the amount of running are nice, however, running upwards of 20+ miles a week and having to do a 12 mile run this Saturday is not much to look forward to. And the blisters on my feet are disgusting!

- I love to paint my nails and toenails and love new fun colors such as these.

("Little Brown Dress" and "Sew Psyched")

The problem is, that I never have enough time to keep up with it. I have one random night and paint my nails, and then leave it on for approximately a month. Then it looks absolutely terrible. But I can't stand to not ever paint them. Not when they have such cool colors.

- This yummy dessert is from the Giada de Laurentiis cookbook, Everyday Italian. I got it several years ago as a Christmas present from Archie. He claims it was the best Christmas present he ever bought "himself". There are some really really great recipes in here, and everything I've made has turned out great.

This chocolate zabaglione is by far the best one in the book. It will seriously change your life! You should definitely make this recipe for someone who hates you, and then they will like you after you make this for them. Or you can ask for a giant favor after you make this.

You can serve this warm or cold. I like it both ways, maybe more warm - it's warm and gooey and delicious. But if you do chill it, it will set to become more like a mouse consistency, and you won't be able to rewarm it because of the egg yolks in the recipe. You must make this soon!!

Chocolate Zabaglione: (By: Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup dry Marsala

8 large egg yolks

pinch of salt

1 pound fresh strawberries - hulled and quartered

Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring the cream just to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove the heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside and keep warm.

For this part, you can use a double boiler, but if you are in my case and don't have one, you can do like I do, and make one. Set a small saucepan filled with an inch or two of water over low heat to simmer. Place a large heat-resistance bowl over water, making sure the water in the pot below does not simmer up high enough to touch the bottom of the bowl (nobody wants scrambled eggs in your dessert). Like This Below.

(Can you see my super cute apron in the bowl that my mom got me for Christmas! :) She even had The Cooking Vent embroidered on it.)

Separate the 8 eggs and place the yolks in the metal bowl on stove as well as sugar, marsala, and pinch of salt.

Whisk together until thick and creamy and a candy thermometer in the mixture registers 160 degrees F, about 4 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat.

Beginning texture Checking the temp Nice and creamy texture

Using a large rubber spatula, fold the chocolate and cream mixture into the egg mixture until thoroughly mixed in. If serving cold, cover and refrigerate several hours until cold. Do not rewarm the mixture.

Divide the strawberries among dessert dishes, spoon the warm zabaglione over and serve.