Meet Griffy

Happy Friday, everyone. I know I’ve talked a bunch about the pup, but never introduced him. Well, it’s time. And I know I’m totally going to get teased about this by certain people but, well, Griffy deserves an intro.

Griffy is a male Lhasa Apso and was born on March 25th, 2009. He was born in Maine to his parents, Lily and Benji. I went up to visit him once before I could bring him home and he was so tiny, I compared his size to a hamster. His eyes weren’t even open yet and he couldn’t walk! The last weekend in May, I was able to bring him home.

Initially Griffy had a lot of black on his face but as he got older and began getting groomed, the black disappeared. Nowadays, his hair is a very light tan.

Griffy loves to play AND he loves to nap. Often he can go from full speed to crash in the span of just a few minutes. He has a stuffed dog, which we refer to as “baby”, that he loves to drop at the feet of house guests. “Baby” makes every trip to Maine with us (to visit my parents) and sleeps by Griffy’s side.

Griffy likes to cuddle, be picked up and held (kinda weird, I know) and runs around in circles when I correctly guess what he wants (a drink/food/potty trip). He is scared of crunching leaves, the hairdryer, our basement and squeaky toys. He loves socks and will run off and hide them whenever he finds an opportunity. His favorite foods are… well pretty much anything the humans around him are eating. He also thinks that ice cubes are the best.treats.ever. Griffy gives lots of kisses and loves to keep me company in the kitchen.

So happy that you’ve all now “met” the pup that I’m always mentioning!

Pumpkin Wontons with Pumpkin Mascarpone and a Vanilla Bean-Cinnamon Maple-Syrup Glaze for Joanne’s “Recipe Impossible Challenge”

Several weeks ago, Joanne of Eats Well With Others announced that she was having a Recipe Impossible Challenge sponsored by Marx Foods. The challenge was to use a winter squash as well as at least two mystery ingredients (contributed by Marx Foods) to create a recipe to help Joanne attain an “orange hue”. Well, if you are a reader of my blog, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE winter squash and when she mentioned this challenge, I wanted in. And for some crazy reason, she picked ME to participate.

In a tiny, unassuming box from Marx Foods, I received product samples of the following:

• Aji Panca Chilies
• Pasilla Negro Chilies
• Maple Sugar
• Coconut Sugar
• Ginger Salt
• Espresso Salt
• Fennel Pollen
• Madagascar Vanilla Beans

It was a tough choice, but I went with these three gems for my recipe…

And since I seemingly cannot get enough of the stuff, I picked pumpkin for my squash.

And the recipe was born.

Pumpkin Wontons with pumpkin Mascarpone and a vanilla bean-cinnamon maple-syrup glaze (A Lemongrove Avenue Orig.)

Ingredients:

• refrigerated wonton wrappers
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree plus 2 tbs
• 3 tbs maple sugar
• 2 tbs coconut sugar
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• canola oil (for frying)
• granulated sugar (for dredging)
• 1 egg (for egg wash)

Make it:

Bring to a boil maple syrup, vanilla bean (cut lengthwise, scooping seeds into syrup and then placing bean into syrup) and 2 cinnamon sticks. Be careful it does not boil over! Reduce to a simmer for a few minutes and then turn off heat and let it cool completely.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix pumpkin puree with 2 tbs maple sugar, 2 tbs coconut sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Put filling in piping bag or plastic bag with corner cut. Squeeze puree (just a dollop) into middle of wrapper. Lightly brush all four edges with egg wash. Fold into triangle, making sure to smooth edges and remove air pockets.

With oil heated to appropriate frying temperature, place wonton (one at a time) into oil using tongs. Depending on depth of your oil (mine was not that deep), you may need to flip a time or two. Remove when it starts to turn light golden, it doesn’t take long at all. Dredge in powdered sugar mixture. *I made powdered sugar using 1 tbs coconut sugar and 1 tbs maple sugar and processing it to a fine powder. I added a bit more granulated sugar to the other two sugars.* Let cool.

For pumpkin mascarpone, add mascarpone cheese to bowl as well as 2 tbs pumpkin puree. Add another 2 tbs or so of vanilla bean-cinnamon maple syrup. Mix together. Put in piping bag or plastic bag with end cut off and squeeze a dollop onto serving plate.

Arrange wontons on serving plate. Garnish with cinnamon stick and vanilla bean if desired. Drizzle glaze on top of wontons. Devour.

And there you have it. Possibly one of my favorite things I have ever made. Not to mention eaten. I may or may not have eaten all of these by myself. Not to mention a few that were freshly fried (obviously for quality control purposes).

I had so much fun coming up with an idea and executing it. And I am extremely pleased with the way it came out! Thanks Joanne and Justin at Marx Foods!

On November 1st (mark your calendars NOW) you will be able to see my recipe and the other entries at the Marx Foods site. If you like what you see here, and let’s be honest… these look pretty damn good don’t they?, then please please PLEEEEAAASE vote for my entry.

Weekend Update

On Saturday morning, I packed up and hit the road for a weekend visit to my parents’ in Maine. Even though we got a later start than I had hoped, we made great time and arrived early afternoon. After a bit of relaxing, we took off for an early dinner.

A new restaurant just opening in town, Rooster’s. They boast coal fired pizza and 20 beers on tap.

And the beer can be poured into a silo, complete with tap, so you can refill your frosty glasses tableside! Dad and I shared a 1/2 silo of Gritty’s Red Claw.

How awesome it is to be able to refill your glasses at your own table. And the material the silo is made out of is twice as thick as a typical beer pitcher so it keeps the beer nice and cold. Win.

We ordered the “Cheeseburger in Paradise” pizza to share. It was made on honey whole wheat dough and had a layer of ground beef, cheddar, tomatoes and shredded lettuce on top. In the little dishes there were pickles and Heinz 57.

The pizza was tasty and the beer was great. I’d say they might have some “kinks” to work out being a new place and all but they JUST opened so that’s to be expected.

Today I whipped up some of IGE’s Buffalo Chicken Dip for us to enjoy during the Patriots game.

 

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:

8oz Low-Fat Whipped Cream Cheese

6oz Plain Greek Yogurt

10oz shredded chicken

1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce, divided

3/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, divided

1 1/2 Tablespoons Ranch Dip Mix

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, Greek yogurt, chicken, 1/2 cup buffalo sauce, 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese and ranch dip mix. Spread mixture in an 8×8 glass dish and top with remaining Mozzarella cheese and buffalo sauce. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

I served it up with some blue corn tortilla chips and carrots. Both were equally YUM with this decadent dip. There may or not be any left ;)

Spinach Orzo Salad

We made it!!! Well, almost. Thursday night always seems a bit more relaxed to me. I enjoyed a glass of wine with dinner, cleaned the dishes and am currently working on cleaning up my DVR a bit. All I have left to do is fold some laundry (seems like this is always on my to-do list) and start getting stuff ready to pack up for our weekend trip to Maine.

Dinner was easy but delicious. I always like a meal that can be cooked in one pan. Because I detest doing dishes. Thankfully we have a dishwasher but it still seems like there are always so many dishes to do. Ick.

Spinach Orzo Salad

• 1 cup orzo
• 6 oz fresh spinach
• 15 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• extra virgin olive oil
• feta

Make it:

Cook orzo according to package directions. Once cooked, add to pan where olive oil has been heated on med-low heat. Add spinach and mix with orzo, keep mixing until spinach is wilted. Add can of tomatoes. Continue to stir over medium heat. Add feta once salad has been removed from heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Oh, and I can’t forget dessert. Pumpkin muffins. Because there hasn’t been enough pumpkin in my life lately. I made these last night so it’s a miracle they are still around today.

I’ll post the recipe at another time, but know that I will never make pumpkin muffins without cinnamon chips EVER AGAIN. They are amazing. DO IT.

Pumpkin Curry Couscous

If you can believe it, this meal was initially inspired by the leftover piece of whole wheat naan from last week’s butternut squash naan pizza. Like I mentioned yesterday, my goal is to use up stuff in the fridge and pantry rather than do a full-blown grocery shopping trip. So far, doing pretty good. And the pumpkin, well aside from the fact that I’m practically o’ding on it, I had some leftover from muffins. Everything else was in my pantry!

I found a recipe on Angela's blog for Pumpkin Curry Quinoa and went with it. Here it is:

Pumpkin Curry Quinoa Couscous

[Sauce recipe adapted from here which was adapted from here]

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (refrigerated kind)
• 1.5 cups canned pumpkin
• S & P
• 2 heaping teaspoons curry powder
• unsweetened coconut flakes to garnish
• Cooked couscous

Directions for sauce:  In a medium-sized pot or large frying pan, sauté garlic and onion in olive oil 3-5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and add vegetable broth, milk, pumpkin and curry powder. Stir gently to combine ingredients. Allow to simmer until flavors are well combined, about 8-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper, stirring to combine, then remove from heat.

Pioneer Woman’s Corn Chowder with Chilies

I don’t know what my ish has been this week but I’m just not having it. It could be the return of the 5-day work week after one shortened by a long weekend… or that it’s too cold for me to willingly get out of bed in the morning. The promise of pumpkin spice coffee (all ready to go thanks to the program feature!) isn’t even helping the situation. The most likely reason though, is that I am so excited to head out of town and up north this weekend to Maine to visit the fam and friends.

In the mean time though, I guess we’ll keep trucking along. Due to our upcoming travels, dinner has been concocted using whatever can be found in the fridge and pantry (I just wrote panty!). Last night was some sorta homemade hamburger helper situation (coined so by my roommate) with roasted acorn squash thrown in the mix. I guess that was my attempt at “adultifying” (totes a made up word) a dish where 1/3 of the ingredients was velveeta cheese. Yep.

Tonight though, after a quick stop at the store for essentials (spinach and bacon), I whipped up the Pioneer Woman’s Corn Chowder with Chilies. Yum. Despite the onset of heartburn (I was a little heavy handed with the chipotle peppers), I am still thinking about the deliciousness I just consumed.

Timber. Whoa… such a country bumpkin I am. It looks like my bread is about to go for a swim. The stuff you see floating on top of my chowder is cheddar cheese and fresh ground black pepper.

My chowder was SO not being cooperative with my camera tonight. Whatevs. I swear it was pretty. Not as pretty as hers, but still mildly attractive.

Corn Chowder with Chilies adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 slices Bacon, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces *I used turkey bacon
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• one bag of frozen corn, thawed and drained
• 4 whole Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, Finely Diced
• 1 whole 4-ounce Can Diced Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 cups coconut milk (no not the canned kind, the refrigerated unsweetened kind… doesn’t taste like coconut I swear)
• ½ teaspoons Kosher Salt (more To Taste)
• 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cups Water

Instructions

Add bacon pieces to a pot over medium heat. Cook for a couple of minutes. Throw in diced onion and stir, cooking the onion for 3 to 4 minutes. Add butter and melt. Add corn. Stir and cook for one minute. Add both kinds of chilies and stir.

Pour in chicken broth and milk. Add salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Combine cornstarch with water. Stir to combine, then pour into the chowder. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat. If chowder needs more thickening, add another tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with water. Cook for another ten minutes.

Serve with crusty (or toasted!) bread and enjoy!

Butternut Squash Waffles

Lazy Saturday mornings make me happy. No real plans, nowhere to be and time to actually make breakfast rather than grab it on the run.

When I saw Jessica's recipe for Whole Wheat Butternut Waffles, I knew this was going to be a weekend treat I’d have to make. And it just happened to be perfect timing because I had a good size chunk of leftover butternut squash in the refrigerator.

Whole Wheat Butternut Waffles (from howsweeteats.com)

serves 3-4

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour  (I used regular WW flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup butternut squash puree

1 egg

1 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat waffle iron. Combine dry ingredients, then stir in squash, egg, milk and vanilla. Scoop about 1/3 cup batter onto waffle iron and cook until heated through.

*Note: I added about 1/4 cup additional milk and 1/4 water to batter because mine was super thick (presumably because I didn’t use pastry flour)

Top with cinnamon cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Cinnamon Cream

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon honey

sprinkle of nutmeg

Mix ingredients together until smooth. Add to waffles.

I covered mine in maple syrup too…simply divine.

Butternut Squash Naan Pizza

Aka “brain food”, or so I hope. Why? Because I need to stay focused enough to make it through at least one lecture tonight. And take notes. All the while hoping that my mind doesn’t wander too much or I nod off. Or I get too distracted by this guy:

On to the pizza…

or should I call it, Naan-za? Or Pi-naan? You decide.

  Ingredients:

• 1 piece of whole wheat naan
• 1 cup of chopped butternut squash
• 1/4 red onion, sliced
• 1/4 cup feta
• olive oil, for brushing
• dried parsley, for garnish

I roasted the butternut squash first @425 for about 20 mins. I reduced the oven temperature to 375 and brushed the naan with olive oil. I put the onions on first, then the squash and finally the feta and a sprinkle of parsley. I left it in the oven for about 12 mins (checking every couple of minutes after 8 mins had passed).

Study time!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Phew, we’ve made it through Monday Tuesday.

And Tuesday wasn’t half bad. Yes, it was a two cup of coffee start to my morning but they were from the Keurig at work and those seem smaller than the cups I bring from home.

And there was sun. Despite the threat of rain, there was sun and a breeze coming in through my window at work. Ahhh.

When I got home, I found good mail waiting for me.

The Good

A coupon to Jordan’s Furniture for almost $250! Why? Well when I was buying my living room & mattress sets back in April, they were running a promotion. If a Red Sox player hit the ball on a certain spot on their billboard at Fenway, everyone who purchased during the specific contest dates got their furniture free! If it didn’t happen (which sadly, it did not) you got a coupon in the amount of 20% of your purchase! Hmmm… now I just have to decide what I want need.

Too bad they don’t sell automatic laundry folders…

The Bad

I need to fold all of this. Yes, those are two heaping baskets of clean laundry. Doing my laundry is one thing, folding it is another. It doesn’t help that puppy likes to roll around and mess up my sorted piles either…

Fortunately, I just had some pre-folding fuel. In the form of:

The Ugly

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. It was one of the ugliest things I’ve pulled out of my oven. No joke. But it is damn good. I’m sorry I didn’t snap a picture of it in all of it’s ugly glory (and I mean that in the most adoring way). It’s also super heavy. Like smack-an-intruder-in-the-head-and-he’ll-be-out-for-hours heavy. But I wouldn’t want to do that because like I said, it’s delicious. Super-moist and full of flavor delicious. Spoil-your-dinner delicious. And, sure, I’ll go there… makes-everything-seem-a-little-bit-better delicious.

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

What is there not to love about a delicious frozen dessert that can be easily made with only three ingredients?

All you need:

• one box of ice cream sandwiches (I used a box of 12)
• one container frozen non-dairy topping (thawed)
• chocolate bar for shavings

Assembly:

• Place four ice cream sandwiches side by side
• Smooth layer of non-dairy topping on sandwiches
• Grate chocolate on top of layer
• Repeat
• Repeat again
• Cover entire “cake” with more non-dairy topping
• Grate more chocolate on top
• Keep frozen until ready to serve

Bring it to a gathering, people just may be impressed. Next time I’ll put peanut butter in there somewhere because peanut butter and chocolate just go together.

Giacomo’s, Boston – Back Bay

Last night we were celebrating a birthday so I planned a *surprise* dinner at Giacomo’s in Boston’s Back Bay. I’ve been to Giacomo’s location in the North End on Hanover Street several times but wanted to check this other location out and was pleased to find out they take reservations unlike the North End spot.

We arrived at 8:30 and were seated immediately… the place was full and there were parties waiting outside, so the reservations were a great call. Immediately a basket of bread was plopped down on our table.

It was a loaf of delicious sourdough and there was olive oil on the table for dipping. The oil was SO tasty. It was the good stuff… it reminded me of the olive oil I had when living in Italy.

For starters we ordered the Antipasto plate and the caprese salad. The antipasto plate had smoked meats, cheeses, grilled squid, roasted red peppers and was fantastic. The cheese was so rich and the squid was unlike any other I’ve had before. The caprese was also good… the mozzarella was of very high quality and melted in my mouth. With our dinner we ordered a bottle of this…

A bottle of Farnese Montepulciano. Such a delicious complement. I visited the area in Tuscany where this wine comes from and when I saw it on the menu, I knew it’s what we needed to have. Plus, all of the bottles of wine at Giacomo’s are $16!

For our entrees we ordered: the mussels and clams over a bed of linguine with Giacomo’s sauce (it’s the house red sauce made with lobster essence and Bechamel) and the butternut squash ravioli with asparagus in a cream sauce.

I literally cleaned the plate. The ravioli was soft and fluffy and full of flavor. But the sauce… the sauce was OUT OF THIS WORLD. It was seriously one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Yes, it really was that good. Even though I was super full, I dipped my bread in it. No drip of great sauce should go to waste IMO.

A slice of pumpkin cheesecake (one of the best I’ve had) and an espresso completed our night as did a nice walk to the Prudential Center after dinner.

Giacomo’s Back Bay is located at 431 Columbus Ave. It’s a short walk from the Pru. It’s cash only but this location takes reservations, so call ahead!

Starbucks Via Flavored

Happy Friday!!!

Though it’s only in the 50’s here right now… it’s supposed to reach 70 today! A chilly morning called for hot coffee. And you know what I’ve been loving this week? Starbucks Via!

If you don’t know what it is… it’s little packets of instant coffee. The regular Via has been out for awhile now but the flavored packets just came out this week.

My roommate picked up a package of the Vanilla Via at Starbucks the other day for us to try. It’s great when you are in a hurry in the morning (as I almost always am) and don’t have time to put on a pot of coffee or just want to make one cup.

The vanilla flavor is subtle, not too sweet or artificial tasting. Which is good because I’m not a HUGE vanilla coffee fan… more of a hazelnut or almond girl.

All you do is pour the packet of Via into a mug and then add about 8 oz of hot water, stir and add milk or whatever you like to add to your coffee. Note: it’s already sweetened so you don’t have to add sugar. I will say that it’s not overly sweet though, but it’s good enough for me.

I’m not sure how much it costs but they do come in boxes of six. I think it amounts to about $1 a cup of coffee which is less expensive than stopping for a coffee but more expensive than brewing a pot. Oh well, sometimes you gotta pay for convenience.

Bonus: right now Starbucks is giving a free tall beverage with any purchase of flavored Via!

Bonus Bonus: it’s a long weekend!!! Have any good plans?

Nature’s Pride

It was another wet, gross day here. The perfect day to lounge on the couch in my comfies and watch movies. But that didn’t happen. Instead, I went to work… hot coffee in hand. Yes, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve made the switch.

After the gym tonight, I didn’t want to make an involved dinner. So I didn’t. A simple sandwich on bread sufficed. But after, I realized I did want something warm. Then I remembered that I still hadn’t shared a recipe using my bread from Nature’s Pride. Ding ding ding! <--- bell signifying a great idea

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for a free loaf of Nature’s Pride bread! Nature’s Pride is a sponsor at the Foodbuzz Festival in November and a recipe contest using their product. Though I think I’ve missed the contest deadline, I still wanted to incorporate it into something great.

The great idea was born, Apple Bread Pudding!

First, I preheated the oven to 350. Then I cubed my bread (toasted lightly first since it was still nice and soft). Four slices of bread ended up being about 3 cups cubed… 1/2 to 1-inch cubes will do. Then I chopped up one medium apple (whatever kind you like to bake with!) into small pieces. In a large bowl, I added the bread cubes, apple pieces, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and at the end 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and about 1/4 cup of Starbucks Cinnamon Dulce Syrup. I used this syrup because it’s amazing but also has a bit of sugar, of course, so it added a bit of sweetness. You can use sugar, brown sugar, agave, etc.

Gently mix it all up with a wooden spoon. Let sit for about 10 minutes so bread can fully absorb the almond milk. Then spoon into greased 6 ounce ramekins. The mixture will fill about four of them. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. Then, if you want, turn the oven to broil and leave them under the broiler for about 3 minutes until tops brown up just a bit.

These were amazing. Simply perfect. So much flavor and the texture was great. The bread held up so well… I’ll admit now that I feared a soggy mess, but no such thing happened here! You’ll love this so much, you will want to eat two ramekins full. Okay, maybe that’s just me.

Quick Chili and Pumpkin Cornbread

Oh, hey there fall!

A brief recap of this very fallish past weekend:

• yummy Indian grub (Tikka Masala, Lamb Vindaloo and Naan)
• Sam Adam’s Pumpkin Beer (Pumpkin, I know… it’s available as part of the multi-packs)
• Birthday cake
• A PIG Roast!
• Dogfish Head Punkin Beer
• A sluggish, sick-feeling Sunday… boo

And then last night, the rain came. I could hear it pattering down on my air conditioner all night long. It was chilly too, at least by my standards. So what does one do when there is a chill in the air?

MAKE CHILI!

And, PUMPKIN CORNBREAD!

For the chili, I started by cooking about 1 lb of 95% lean ground beef in a saute pan. I added about a half of a chopped onion, some roasted red peppers and a quarter of a green pepper (chopped)… if you couldn’t guess, those were the contents of my veggie drawer. In a larger pot, I put one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes and 2 15 oz cans of beans – one of Great Northern beans and one of small red beans. I added cayenne pepper, cumin, chili pepper, chopped garlic and salt and pepper (I didn’t measure the quantities). I brought it to a simmer, added my meat/onions/peppers and let it all simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. I topped it with cheddar cheese and had a piece of pumpkin cornbread on the side.

For the Pumpkin Cornbread, I followed a recipe.

adapted from RecipeGirl

½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground pumpkin pie spice
1 cup cornmeal
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
2/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 Tbs honey

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Sift flours, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in cornmeal.

3. In separate bowl, beat eggs lightly. Whisk in pumpkin, brown sugar, oil and honey.

4. Make a well in the dry mixture. Add pumpkin mixture and blend batter.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cornbread is browned and the surface has a slightly springy feel.