The Basil Bee

Vote for Hailey-AWA 2012 Paws and Feet Mascot Contest

2012-01-27T12:36:00.003-05:00

Hi fellow bloggers, friends & family-need some help! VOTING FOR THE 2012 AWA PAWS & FEET MASCOT has begun! Please vote for our rescue pup Hailey for AWA (Animal Welfare Association) Mascot!!

All you need to do is go to http://www.awanj.org/ to vote for Hailey! It is $1 a vote, and there is a minimum of 5 votes at a time!! There is no cap on how many votes or how many times you can vote. Voting begins at 1pm today (Friday 1/27) and ends February 6th! If she wins, we will be seeing her on printed and online ads, materials, and the official event T-shirt!....and she turns "1" on Feb 1st so this would be an amazing birthday for her! So get voting y'all!

♥ ♥ Hailey (woof woof)

Ant's Creamed Spinach

2012-01-02T15:08:00.002-05:00

This is going into my recipe book as a family favorite, Ant's Creamed Spinach (we served 6 people with this). It's always a real treat when we go out to a steakhouse for dinner, and we always know at least one side dish that we will get, creamed spinach, Ant's favorite. We haven't found the perfect one yet. Some are to dry, too much cheese, to liquidy, etc... Since, I watch a lot of Food Network and Cooking Channel, Anthony gets pulled into some of the shows as well. He ended up watching Chuck Hughes "Chuckmas" and they made a creamed spinach which gave Ant the idea to try and make a recipe that was perfect to his taste buds. We looked at a few of my cookbooks and some online recipes and took a little from here and there and added some of our own touches, like bacon and panko bread crumb topping. We did a trial at our neighbors house prior to Christmas, and Gerry (not a spinach fan at all), ended up trying it and loved it. So, it was official that we were going to make it to accompany Christmas dinner. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

3 (10 ounce) bags clean fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons minced white onion
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

Panko Bread topping

1 cup panko (you can also use regular bread crumbs)
2 table spoon of butter
pinch of italian seasoning

Directions

Take a large skillet over medium high heat and cook the bacon until crisp, place on a plate wtih papertowels to soak up excess grease. Once cooled, cut into small crumbles and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook until wilted, stirring constantly. Remove from the skillet and drain in a colander. Try to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onions; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes (don't burn the garlic!).
Add the spinach and stir in the heavy cream.
Sprinkle in the mozzarella cheese and stir to melt and coat the spinach.
Once the mozzarella has melted, stir in the Parmesan cheese and bacon bits and continue to cook and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to your tasting!
Pour spinach mixture into a greased casserole dish
Now take a smaller pot, and melt 2TBS of butter, once melted, remove from heat and stir in panko and seasoning and stir to combine. Sprinkle this on top of the creamed spinach and place under boiler (high) for 3-4 minutes until its golden brown on top.

Delicious December

2012-01-01T14:52:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Virginia with my family was beautiful, filled with love, presents, doggies, plenty of wine, and delicious meals on Christmas Eve and night. Christmas day was filled with opening gifts, mom's egg casserole and then feasting on appetizers before dinner with my buffalo chicken dip, chicken artichoke dip, Hickory Farms cheese and sausages, and the cookie plate was also out again.

My brother in law brought his smoker over that night and we ended up making a meat rub with basil, oregano, rosemary, parsley, garlic, and some other components. We rubbed it on 13lbs of meat, and it was so good, just fell off the bone practically with a light smokey flavor. Paired with my moms twice baked potatoes, me and Anthony's new creamed spinach recipe (recipe to follow in my next blog post), and green beans and onions. This was the best Christmas dinner, hands down. After dinner we tried to watch The Hangover, but food coma took over Erin and I. None the less, strict WW diet goes back on starting tomorrow!

Hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday and hoping the New Year will bring you new blog worthy dishes and wishes for 2012!

Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs

2011-10-30T08:49:00.005-04:00

This is another recipe from Giada's Every Day Italian-Episode Kids Camping-that I wanted to try (my Venetian Rolled Pizza post from 10/25/11 is also from this episode). I've never made ground chicken meatballs, none the less used a recipe with ground chicken in it, so this was a first for me, but not the last because it was sooo good and got high ratings from Ant! This has a light cherry tomato sauce that glazes over the orecchiette with parmesan, so its not too heavy.

Giada's recipe does call for fresh flat leaf parsley, but Ant's not a big fan of parsley so I substituted that for Italian Seasoning instead. My grocer did not have bocconcini mozzarella that day at the store, so instead I used a mozzarella ball that I just cut up into smaller cubes and works just the same!

Ingredients

1 pound orecchiette pasta
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs (I used Cento flavored breadcrumbs)
3 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup grated Romano
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, hot
4 cups cherry tomatoes halved
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
8 ounces bocconcini mozzarella, halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, italian seasoning, eggs, milk, ketchup, Romano Cheese, and the salt and pepper. Add the chicken and gently stir to combine.
Using a melon baller (or a teaspoon measure), form the chicken mixture into 3/4-inch pieces. With damp hands, roll the chicken pieces into mini meatballs.
In a large (14-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs and cook without moving until brown on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and brown the other side, about 2 minutes longer.
Add the chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Using a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until tomatoes are soft and meatballs are cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the pasta water. Transfer pasta to a large serving bowl and add the Parmesan. Toss to lightly coat orecchiette, adding reserved pasta water, if needed, to loosen the pasta.
Add the meatball mixture, mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of the basil. Gently toss to combine. Garnish with the chopped basil.

Since I cook for two, this leaves plenty of leftovers which is great, because I love when meals make at least 2 meals, especially if its during the work week. I stored in a Pyrex safe baking dish with a lid, so easy storage in the fridge and then you can either heat up in the microwave or throw in the oven with some extra cheese on top if you wish! Enjoy, Ciao Bella!

Total Time:30 minutes

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 10 min

Interval: Intermediate

Serves: 4-6 servings

Venetian Rolled Pizza

2011-10-25T16:53:00.011-04:00

This past Saturday was made up of house hold chores, gym, playing with Hailey, and then meeting our friends at Creamy Acres in Mullica Hill, NJ for some Haunted Hayride adventures. I had seen Giada make this dish on Everyday Italian on her recent episode for Kids Camping and thought I would test it out before unveiling it as an appetizer for Thanksgiving. Helpful tip-I went to our favorite pizza shop and asked for a pound of dough in which most restaurants will sell it, and its typically less expensive than buying dough at the store and not so chaotic as making your own-1 pound cost me $2!! Plus, if you get it at your favorite pizza place, you already know
it’s going to be good!

Ingredients

· Flour, for dusting

· 1 pound pizza dough

· 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

· 7 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced

· 1 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) torn baby spinach

· 1 table spoon EVOO

· Kosher salt, for seasoning

Directions

· Position an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

· On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pizza dough to a 12 to 14-inch diameter circle, about 1/4-inch thick.

· Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella over the dough.

· Arrange the prosciutto over the cheese in a single layer. Sprinkle with the spinach. Top with the remaining cheese.

· Take 1 end of the circle and roll the dough up into a thin cylinder, gently folding in the ends.

· Brush the dough with the olive oil and season with the salt (I also added some oregano to the top of it, your choice!)

· Place the dough, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 23-25 minutes (pending on your oven) until the top is golden brown.

· Allow the pizza to cool for 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut the pizza into 3/4-inch pieces and serve.

Total Time: 36 minutes

Prep: 6 minutes

Cook: 30 min

Level: Easy

Yield: 18-20 slices

Dancing in September (like the song!)

2011-09-14T13:20:00.000-04:00

Lots going on with The Basil Bee of late…

1. Back on Weight Watchers and back to the gym and after first week, down 5lbs!

Since our wedding in February, I gained about 15 pounds and haven’t been running or going to the gym as much so figured gotta get back on the bandwagon so my clothes aren’t so snug! Plus I have my best friend Kate’s wedding in January and when we had our dress fitting, let’s just say I’ve had better moments, lol. So I signed up on WW online to help track and so far so good! It’s really a great site, and have you seen the commercials with Jennifer Hudson? She looks amazing! This does not mean I stop cooking or trying my recipes whatsoever, I just watch my portions and eating more fiber filling foods and veggies! So if you have any WW friendly recipes you’d like to share with me, please send them my way!

2. Went to NYC this past Tuesday for the taping of The Rachael Ray Show

My girlfriend Christine had just visited The Rachael Ray show (after waiting a year for tickets!), so after hearing her stories of the day she had in NYC, I went on RR’s website and submitted my email for tickets. There’s at least a 200,000 person waitlist and it’s a lottery based system, so figured I had a year to wait but I ended up getting tickets for their 4:30 taping on September 12^th after 2 months so I was ecstatic! I brought along my mom and best friend Kelly. We got into the city around 11:30 am and had a wonderful Caesar salad lunch and vino at AperiTIVO, did some people watching, tromped around the city to Rockefeller Center and Time Square and then headed back towards the studio to stand in line. We ended up being third row on the aisle (to the right of RR in this pic) and it was just amazing! We had such a great time meeting her and seeing the set and of course the guests who were there! But to find out who it is, you’ll have to watch this coming Tuesday’s show on September 20^th! Believe me, you will be surprised!

3. Heading to NC on Sunday for vacation at the beach!

Cannot wait to sit on the beach or by the pool, with book in hand, sun shining, and cold drink in my hand! Will be with my mom and dad, my sister Erin and Kevin, my hubby, and get to see my best friend from Wilmington, NC, Miss Kellie Hill and her bf Matt! We have a house in Ocean Isle Beach, NC (about 30 minutes north of Myrtle Beach) with 5 bedrooms, huge kitchen, decks galore, private pool and just serenity! Will be nice to relax and cook with the family and run on the beach! Not to worry, my vacation will be WW friendly! At least I can still eat cheese and save points for vino!!!

4. My hubby finished our family room!

The family room is done! Just had carpet installed and new TV purchased! It has been about a 4-5 month project and seems surreal it’s done! Anthony did an amazing job and I’m so proud of him-I have no idea how he knew how to do half the things he put in the room, especially our homemade bar! Next thing on our list is to have a cocktail party! Wahoo!

(before) (after)

Shrimp-n-Sushi in Arlington, VA

2011-08-10T10:53:00.001-04:00

Hailey and I took a ride to Arlington, VA (right outside of DC) to visit with my sister and Porter, and to see my parents new house they just settled into that very weekend! Trips to Arlington typically result in lots of great wine, fun food, coffee, and just good times. Friday night when I got in, we met my parents at Clyde’s at Mark Center for late dinner/drinks. They usually frequent there on Wednesdays for their $10 bottle of wines and shrimp from the half price raw bar from 4 – 7 pm and 10 pm – midnight. We had the shrimp cocktail for starters with wine, Erin had the Cream of Crab soup and crab cake dinner that was divine, Dad ordered the bacon cheeseburger, and my mom and I ordered the Stuffed Chicken Breast which was stuffed with spinach, prosciutto, provolone, basil and tomatoes, and placed on top of mashed potatoes! We ended the night on a sweet note with Clyde’s Brownie Sunday-warm chocolate brownie topped with hot fudge sauce, vanilla ice cream and freshly whipped cream. Helped me fall into a food coma slumber as soon as we got back to Erin’s..check out Clyde’s!

mmm, their Cream of Crab Soup recipe

CLYDE'S AT MARK CENTER

1700 N. Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311

Phone (703) 820-8300

Saturday night after a fun wine and cheese visit with Erin’s friend Aly and new baby Max, then driving over to see our parentals beautiful new house, we decided to head to Shirlington and have some sushi at PING by Charlie Chiang’s. We started with wine, edamame and coconut shrimp (tempura shrimp in sweet coconut flakes and coconut milk sauce) and then let the sushi ordering begin..it was some of the best sushi I’ve had in a long time and I now love the soft shell crab and blue crab meat sushi rolls-soooo good! Below was some of the other things we had ordered…

Spicy salmon

Spicy tuna

Dynamite- white tuna roll, topped w/ spic mayo, blue crab meat, crunchies and then baked

Soft shell crab- jumbo soft shell crab, avocado, scallions, Thai sweet chili sauce

Nigiri-Toro (fatty Tuna Belly)

PING by Charlie Chiang's
4060 Campbell Ave. Arlington, VA 22206

So if you are ever in the Arlington/Alexandria area, I highly recommend visiting/wining/dining at each restaurant. They are about 3 miles away from one another, so why not visit both!

Bound for Jersey Shore Blueberries

2011-07-25T16:35:00.004-04:00

Summer days in South Jersey consist of day trips (or weekly rentals) down the Jersey shore. Whether you’re headed to Atlantic City, Ocean City, Sea Isle, or one of the exits from 7S, you are sure to pass by the farmer market stands alive with fresh, farm grown fruits, vegetables and flowers. This is actually a “secret” favorite part of my trip. Being able to stop at the stands on the way home from bronzing on the beach all day with friends, and picking out delicious fruits/veggies to bring home and cook with for the week!

My wonderful neighbors spent the day in Ocean City last week and brought me back a pint of beautiful NJ blueberries. So yesterday morning, I looked at the berries staring back at me in the fridge and was like “I’ve got to use every single one of them, why not bake some blueberry muffins for my hubby, drop some off to Sue and Gerry’s, and then I can bring some over to Barb’s house who I was going to see later that day.” The berry that keeps on giving! I took a recipe I had used before and added a special ingredient, honey! I also used some of my leftover bananas and made some peanut butter banana muffins too…I hope my muffins made everyone’s day as I think they may have by the smiles I saw on their faces! See below for the recipe…

Yummy Blueberry muffins with a crusty sugar topping. The blueberries and the buttermilk batter are wonderful together... Quick and easy, made with few ingredients. Remember to use paper liners!!!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 pint fresh blueberries - rinsed, drained and patted dry
2 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons of honey

Directions

Position rack in the middle of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray the top of a muffin pan with non-stick coating, and line with paper liners.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, 1 1/4 cups sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix together 1 3/4 cup of the flour and baking powder. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Crush 1/4 of the blueberries, and stir into the batter. Stir in the honey. Mix the rest of the whole blueberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of the flour, and fold into the batter. Scoop into muffin cups. Sprinkle tops lightly with sugar.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown, and tops spring back when lightly tapped.

Some blueberry factoids…

The beautiful, wholesome, and healthy berry is the official state fruit of NJ. South Jersey’s fields are alive with blueberries from June through mid-August. Cultivators harvest about 50 million pounds of berries each year, making the Garden State the second-biggest blueberry producer after Michigan. One cup of blueberries contains 14% DV of fiber 2.41 g per 100g Blueberries are a source of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, phenolics, flavonoids, and are very low in fat and sodium!

Some of my favorite local farm markets that I stop at on my way to the AC Expressway…

Stella Farms- 459 New Freedom Road, Berlin, NJ 08009

Mr. Green Jeans-210 S. Route 73, Hammonton, NJ 08037

Gene’s Farm and Garden Center-7317 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing, NJ 08330

Something for Summer

2011-07-20T09:24:00.002-04:00

I have been a busy Basil Bee this summer, trying new recipes for main entrees, sides, and desserts, and using my Le Cresuet grill pan indoors as we have not finished our backyard yet and still no grill. I went to post some of my recent pictures and recipes, but as you know, we got a puppy, and our puppy chewed my camera chord (along with Anthony's Prada reading glasses)! So I'm MIA in attaching some of my recent photos but will see how well my Droid phone camera photos hold up as I still have much to blog about.

I picked up the latest Food Network magazine, and what a great issue! There's an additional insert inside with (50) Potato Salad recipes-one for everyone's tastebuds! I tried the Ranch potato salad recipe and added some crumbled turkey bacon as well and it was delicious! Anthony rated it pretty high too! I've only attempted making a potato salad twice in my life and I have to say that I would make again and again and even bring to a BBQ, that's how confident I was in how it tasted! The recipe is below

#9. Ranch Mix 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup buttermilk, 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, 1 minced garlic clove, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 2 chopped scallions, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt and pepper. Toss with 2 pounds boiled cubed red potatoes.
* I sauteed 4 slices of turkey bacon and crumbled them and also tossed them into the potato salad as well

This issue also had a July calendar of " A month of Basil". Each day of the month they give you a unique and different idea of how to use basil with summer's produce in the kitchen and adds new ideas how to use it to the fullest!
For today-Wednesday, July 20th-"Make spaghetti for dinner: simmer a store bought tomato sauce with a few basil stems for extra flavor."
For tomorrow-Thursday, July 21st-"Treat yourself to a simple weeknight dessert: fold chopped basil into whipped cream, and spoon over blackberries."

They also include an August calendar, "A month of Tomato"! These calendars are both on my fridge! The magazine also has lean beef flavor boosters to inspire new spices and recieps for your beef as you grill this summer! So pick up a copy quickly and enjoy!

Stumbling across Nutella Lava Cookies

2011-06-13T16:08:00.005-04:00

An absolute must of a website to sign up for that I am a total fan of thanks to Miss Kelly, is www.stumbleupon.com. You select things of interest to you and then you select the STUMBLE button and it finds websites of things you may like that you may have never journeyed to while perusing on the world wide web. I’ve found so many great new recipes, blog, and baking sites that I haven’t looked at yet! It’s great! Check it out and add me as a stumbler (my screen name is UNCWkrissyg)

So let’s get to the cookies that my titled blog post is all about today! If you love chocolate, there’s no doubt in my mind that you love chocolate lava cakes too. You know, the ooey gooey dessert you have to order at a restaurant when you order your dinner so they have enough time to prepare/bake it with the gooey lava chocolaty center? I found this great recipe online at Kirbie’s Cravings , using Stumbleupon, and decided to try them out on Sunday after a stressful weekend of handling Anthony’s car accident he was in. Cookies always make insurance calls, claims, and bumps and bruises that much better J

These cookies are very easy to make, especially if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer handy. The dough will seem a bit tough when rolling into the ball shapes but believe me when I say they are the most richest and choclatey cookies you will ever taste! Next time I may add some peanut butter and/or Fluff for the filling so I have a variety of my favorites!

Chocolate Nutella Lava Cookies

§ 1 cup butter

§ 1¼ cup sugar

§ 2 large eggs

§ ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

§ 2¼ cups all-purpose flour

§ ¼ tsp. salt

§ 1 tsp. baking powder

§ 1 1/2 cups large semi-sweet chocolate chips

§ nutella for filling

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper ( or silicone baking mat). Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Blend in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix in the cocoa powder at low speed until well blended.

3. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to the bowl and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Scoop up about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball in the palm of your hand and put in about 1/2 tbsp of nutella in the middle of the dough. Then wrap the edges around to form a ball and to cover the nutella completely. Place on the prepared baking sheets, and repeat process, placing balls about 2 inches apart. Bake about 13-16 minutes, until cookies are cooked and slide easily off of parchment paper. Serve while warm.

Blog source: Kirbie's Cravings

Chocolate cookie recipe source: Annie's Eats

...and guess who joined in the kitchen with the Basil Bee as sous chef/baker while baking these cookies? Miss Hailey Bee!!!

Double Peanut Butter Paisley Brownies

2011-06-07T11:38:00.005-04:00

Happy Summer my fellow Basil Bee bloggers! So circa this past Christmas, I received a chocolate lovers recipe book from my Director, Davina at work… Hershey's Recipe Collection in 5-Ring Binder

I have been so busy with our wedding back in February and renovation of our home that I just haven’t had much time to bake, but the time came the week of Allison’s Bridal shower! We (the Bridesmaids) needed something a little extra to go with her bridal shower cake so I volunteered to make these brownie bars. When I went to reach up for the book off my new shelf in the kitchen I swear the book talked and signed ‘Ahhhhh finally!” …The recipe was really easy and if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer, even easier! The chocolate syrup added the gooeyness to it and they were a huge hit at the party! Add a glass of milk with this and you’re in for a real treat! Enjoy!

Skill Level: Intermediate

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients

· 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

· 1/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter

· 1 cup granulated sugar

· 1 cup packed light brown sugar

· 3 eggs

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

· 2 teaspoons baking powder

· 1/4 teaspoon salt

· 1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips

· 1/2 cup HERSHEY'S Syrup

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl. Add sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.

3. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; mix into peanut butter mixture, blending well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Spread half of batter into prepared pan; spoon syrup over top. Carefully top with remaining batter; swirl with metal spatula or knife for marbled effect.

4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. About 36 brownies.

The Basil Bee brings home Hailey!

2011-05-06T16:42:00.007-04:00

Welcome home Hailey! Something furry will be joining me in the kitchen-our new addition to our family, Hailey, our lab/pit mix we rescued this past Saturday, April 30^th, 2011 from The Last Resort Animal Rescue in West Milford, NJ!!! My hubby and I have been contemplating getting a pup and we decided if we did, that we would rescue one-and believe me there are so many great loving dogs out there. Ant loves Little Daddy (the brown pit therapy dog) on Cesar Milan’s show, “The Dog Whisperer.” He really wanted a pit and I wanted to also rescue. My sister Erin and brosef-in-law Kevin, recently brought home their own pup, Porter, ( he’s an Airedale Terrier-pictured below right) and they helped give us the courage to start our search even more.

Hailey (her adopted name prior was Bailey) is a pit-bull terrier/lab mix who needed a loving home. She was brought to the TUSVM in Alabama, a small animal clinic at about a week old with severe frostbite to all of her feet and a tooth gash down her left ear, most likely from a dog bite. Due to the frostbite, she lost 2 toes on her back left leg but doesn’t seem to notice. She favors the other leg a little bit, but we see her strengthening every day! She’s about 13 weeks old, super friendly, and loves to snuggle.

She soon then arrived to North Jersey and was in a great foster with foster parents, Karen and Norm, along with 4 other dogs (3 pits and a lab). She started to socialize in puppy school with Drayton Michaels/The Pit Bull Guru, and had a blast. Her foster mom brought her to work and to run errands so she became familiar and comfortable with all new things. She was so lucky to have such great foster parents that also crate trained her, housebroke her, and taught her a few commands! We love our Hailey!

We spoke to a few rescue places and had our home inspected by Barbara, who lives locally and helps with placing pits in need of their fur-ever homes in the South Jersey area (and now a great friend of mine!). You would be surprised how many rescues there are in your area, and their mission is to reshape misperceptions regarding pit bulls, educate the public about what wonderful pets and companions pit bulls can be, and also serve as a source of information/referrals for pit bull owners, and ultimately reduce the number of pit bulls that are killed in shelters by promoting foster care, adoption, and responsible ownership.

They are an absolutely wonderful family dog! They do need training, but let’s be honest, all puppies need obedience training no matter what! The key to raising puppies is also socialization. We have learned so much through the process that when we found Hailey’s picture online and made an appointment to go meet her, when we met, it was love at first site! So if you’re looking for a pit bull pup or any dog (no matter the age, size, type) for that matter, seek an adoption or rescue agency (just Google it in your area) and give your new addition their fur-ever home!

Hailey to soon meet her Uncle Jackson, my parents dog (pictured to the left with lil Porter)

Great websites to start your search are...

www.petfinder.com

http://www.thelastresortrescue.com/

(left) Hailey playing with Barbara's dog Savannah! They look like mom and baby with their white socks on!

And don't forget, if you're in South Jersey, the 5k at Cooper River Park, Saturday, May 14th..show your support for all the animals and meet beautiful Savannah (pictured above left) , this years mascot!!!

http://awanj.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=438905

Gnocchi Al Forno (and the Broiler virgin)

2011-04-07T11:28:00.002-04:00

Kellie from Pansies Posies Sweet Tea shared with me her Gnocchi Al Forno with Spinach & Italian Turkey - Kellie Style recipe and since my hubby is a gnocchi fan, I decided to try it out myself, especially since it contains ground turkey and Neufchatel cheese! Yum-o! I changed some of the ingredients around but not much. I didn't have Italian seasoning per say, so I used some oregano, basil, and onion and garlic seasonings. And I also topped it off with a sprinkle of shredded mozzarella cheese as well. Hey, I love cheese, what can I say!

I have to say I was a bit nervous about using the broiler. I've never used it before and have heard horrifying rumors that it can blow up, don't walk away from it, can burn your face, leave it open an inch- hence my anxiety with even pressing the broiler button! I asked Kellie for some help and if you could have seen our text messages going back and forth yesterday about her calming me down about the silly broiler. Alas, I used it, and succeeded without a burn mark, house blowing up, or burnt food!

The starting line up is:

1 Pkg Gnocchi ( I used Bellino, only $1.99)

1 Pkg ground turkey (approx. 1 - 1.5 lbs.)

1 Jar of choice Marinara (I actually made my first marinara using Giada De Laurentis recipe)

4 oz. Fresh Spinach, roughly torn

8 oz. Neufchatel Cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese), Room Temp.

3/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese (I used BelGioioso )

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Garlic Salt to taste

Oregano to taste

Basil to taste

onion and garlic seasoning to taste

Drizzle of Olive Oil

Salt/Pepper to taste

Add a drizzle of olive oil to frying pan on Med. High Heat. Add Turkey Meat and seasonings/spices to taste (ie. Garlic Salt/Oregano, Basil, OnionGarlic seasoning/Salt & Pepper), cook all the way through, drain the fat, then turn down to low heat and add jar of marinara, cover and let simmer.

In a seperate pot, boil well salted water and add Gnocchi. Boil Gnocchi for approx. 2 minutes until Gnocchi floats to the top, drain and set aside.

Add torn spinach to your turkey & marinara then cover for approx 2-3 min until spinach is slightly wilted.

Preheat your oven on the High Broil setting. (Make sure oven rack is 6-8 in from heating element)

Combine Gnocchi with your Turkey, Spinach and Marinara mixture, mix well. Empty contents of this mixture into a 10 - 12 in. pie plate or baking dish. (I used a a baking dish)

Take a spoon and add "blobs" of Neufchatel cheese all over the top of your baking dish mixture. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top of everything and then sprinkle the mozzarella on top for another layer of deliciousness. Place into the broiler for approx 3-5 min or until top is golden brown and bubbly! Serve with some garlic bread and a glass of wine, and you have dish that is absolute Italian divine!

*I did leave my oven open an inch with my eyes on it for those 4 minutes it was in there, it browns quickly!

Birthday with a hint of Basil

2011-03-25T11:50:00.000-04:00

I always love creating and sending personalized gifts-it adds another special touch! If you haven’t perused www.etsy.com, what are you waiting for? Kellie at www.pansiesposies.blogspot.com got me hooked on this site while planning for my wedding. It’s like an Ebay for sellers that customize and design their own things from invitations, pillows, stationary, jewelry, labels, etc…you can even make requests (called alchemy on etsy) and sellers will actually send you samples of what they can do and bid on your project! My friends know that I’m obsessed with it and check in daily. I have purchased my wedding sticker labels, personalized monogrammed stationery, bridal party jewelry, clutches, and much more on there so I can attest to how great they are!

Today I wanted to share with you a new seller I have come across that is absolutely BUZZ worthy…meet etsy seller Noelle at “pinkbathtub designs”. I was looking for a birthday gift for Kellie (her birthday is April 11^th) and found a really cute kitchen towel with a black cat on it. Kellie has an all black cutey cat named Basil and she loves to hang out with Kellie when she’s in the kitchen. I contacted Noelle at pinkbathtubdesigns and saw that she also had a variety of recipe cards. I asked if she could make some matching cat recipe cards to accompany the towel to make a cute part of her gift. She contacted me right away and thought it was a great idea too and sent me a sample within ten minutes! We worked together on what we would put on the recipe cards for some personalized-afication and I came up with “In the Kitchen with Basil” for the top right corner and then “A recipe from Kellie”. We created, communicated and I sent payment for gift on Monday, Noelle shipped on Tuesday, and Kellie received it in the mail on Thursday and absolutely loved it!

Kellie’s email to me was “ I just melted when i saw the recipe card with the little black kitty that said in the kitchen with basil. that was so witty. and it says my name on the bottom. basil was curious when i opened em so, she was sitting on the counter next to the mail. it was cute!”

So check out pinkbathtubdesigns and sign up on www.etsy.com and share with me your great gift finds or what great things you find for yourself!

Cheers!!!

Basil Egg-n-Cheese Bagel Strata

2011-03-23T14:42:00.000-04:00

A few of my girlfriends went to Parc Restaurant Bistro & Café in Philadelphia (Rittenhouse Square) for brunch on Saturday. Parc is a Steven Starr restaurant serving traditional bistro fare in a charming Parisian ambience. We were having a post-wedding celebration that day since they were unable to make it to our wedding. What better way to start our day then with mimosas and eggs! I decided to go with the scrambled eggs, bacon, and Lyonnais potatoes. You’re probably thinking, “why would you get scrambled eggs, I’m sure there was a gajillion others items you could have chosen.” Fact is, I like plain and simple, and guess what? My eggs were perfect and full of fresh herbs! I especially loved the chives in my eggs and thought, hmm what a great idea! So since I’ve been on a hunt for a strata/quiche/frittata recipe, I decided to incorporate some of those flavors on my Sunday cooking spree. I made this egg concoction Sunday morning in anticipation of throwing it in the oven that night when Anthony came home from work for a nice Sunday Breakfast for dinner so we could watch my new favorite show “America’s Next Great Restaurant” at 8pm.

Basil Egg-n-Cheese Bagel Strata

Ingredients

6eggs

1 ¼ cups milk

2 plain bagels (med-large sized), split, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 bag of mixed cheddar shredded cheese (or your choice)

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1 tablespoon chives

1/2teaspoon salt

1/4teaspoon pepper

¼ cup turkey bacon, uncooked, diced finely

Directions

Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
In large bowl, beat eggs and milk. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle some more cheese over the top. Cover; refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Heat oven to 350°F. Uncover dish; bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and center is set.

*if using smaller bagels, you may need to use three. It’s best to use bagels when a day or two old so they get nice and crispy in the oven.

Lozza Mozza Italian Casserole

2011-03-21T19:49:00.002-04:00

I'm full steam ahead still with my cooking a "week in a day" on Sundays...As you know, I get somewhat nervous when cooking anything italian since Anthony grew up in an Italianmakeyourowngravy household and I grew up in a Ragu casa...Hence my anxiety! At any rate, I found a few different manicotti casserole recipes online at allrecipes.com and decided to embark on my own creation using turkey meat instead of ground beef. Since I made this for the next day, I put everything together and put in the fridge-you can make this the night of though...Let the starting line up reveal itself...

1 pound rigatoni pasta
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 jar (16 oz) of spaghetti sauce your choice
(I was out of my red sauce, so I used Renaldi Tomato and Basil)
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
half cup of parmesan reggiano grated cheese
thinly sliced pepperonis
salt & pepper
oregano
half of an onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
13x9 lightly greased casserole dish

What to do next...

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and pour the rigatoni and cook until al dente, about 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside
Meanwhile, brown the onions and garlic for 3 minutes, then add the turkey meat, salt and pepper, and oregano.With a slotted spoon, remove turkey and onions to your baking dish. Stir in jar of sauce, parmesan reggiano cheese, cup of mozzarella cheese, and cooked pasta into baking dish and stir together well.
If your making this to eat a day or so later, let casserole cool, and cover with saran wrap and put in refrigerator.
When you're ready to make, preheat oven to 350, take out of fridge and remove saran wrap. Top with some pepperoni slices on top and sprinkle the rest of the bag of cheese on top of the casserole.
Bake in a preheated oven until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes
Serve with some yummy crusty garlic bread and bon appetito!

*If your making this to eat after preparation, preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes waiting for cheese to bubble. You can also add italian sausage or mushrooms if you would like. If you do add mushrooms,sausage, etc...be sure to add another jar of tomato sauce then (and a deeper casserole dish!)

Creamy Potato Bake

2011-03-18T20:07:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but this Spring weather just makes me want to be outside ALL THE TIME! I'm also training for my 11K in Atlantic City in a few weeks so when I run after work in the nice weather, it kind of cuts into my dinner prep by the time I get home. Hence, I've really become inspired watching Rachael Ray's new show "Week in a Day" and have even tried myself the last two weeks to plan/grocery shop/cook ahead and I gotta say, it really helps!

I've also really been into casseroles lately-it helps make my workweek dinners quicker and easier. I used to think casseroles were always filled with comfort fat filled foods but you can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you want, hehe! You can also just have a casserole dish with a side, so you just have to whip up chicken or steak, etc and cuts down your cooking time.I had some leftover yukon potatoes and a pork loin in the fridge that I wanted to use this week and then I came across this recipe came from Simple Daily Recipes (Loaded Potato Potluck favorite). Who doesnt't love mashed potatoes? Then add some crumbled bacon and ooey gooey cheese baked in the oven! Yum! So, decision was made. Peppered pork loin, salad, and loaded baked potato potluck for dinner on Thursday night. I did change up some of Simple Daily Recipe's recipe and I added some Basil Bee influence in this and used turkey bacon (to stay a little bit on the healthier side) and also added some Kraft Savory Garlic cooking creme to this recipe. I love garlic to much and we all know I am in love with the new cooking creme's from the last few of my posts!

Here's the starting line up...

8 medium potatoes (about 2 1/2 to 3 lb. total), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup CARNATION Evaporated Milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 cups (8-oz. pkg.) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
6 slices cooked turkey bacon, crumbled, divided
Sliced green onions (optional)
1 tablespoon Kraft Savory Garlic cooking creme

Place potatoes in large saucepan. Cover with water; bring to a boil. Cook over medium-high heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender; drain.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease 3-quart casserole dish.

Return potatoes to saucepan; add evaporated milk, sour cream, cooking creme, salt and pepper. Beat with hand held mixer or mash by hand until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese and half of bacon. Spoon mixture into prepared casserole dish

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, remaining bacon and green onions. Bake for an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 16 servings.

A BEE'S TIP
This casserole can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated. Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF for 40 to 45 minutes or until heated. Uncover; top with cheese, bacon and green onions; bake for an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Bee in Training

2011-03-17T09:05:00.002-04:00

Happy St. Patrick’s day my fellow bloggers! Hope your day is full of Kelly Green and Shamrocks!

I'm now going to jump ahead to April's Fool's Day...I wanted to update you on my upcoming 11k running race in Atlantic City-The April Fool’s run on Sunday, April 3^rd, 2011 at 10am. You actually have the choice of running a 7K or 11K…I know what you’re thinking, a new twist on other races distances, right? I guess that’s why they are doing it on April Fools! A couple of my girlfriends decided to sign up to

A. get our butts in gear for upcoming summer weather and

2. Would be something fun to train together.

I’ve been putting hours into the gym switching up my cardio and uppin’ my mileage on the treadmill, but since the weather has been breaking and feeling more like spring, I’ve ventured outside to run finally! I ran last Saturday the 3.7 mile loop around Cooper River Park in South Jersey and kept it under 50 minutes, which is great for me and I felt fantastic. There’s something about running outside in cool weather, while jamming out to Pandora and feeling strong and that you can keep running! This Saturday I’m attempting to run the loop again and add another mile. The 11K is just about 7 miles so I feel like my training is really starting to pay off and I feel great! I’ve been getting some great night sleeps, probably because I’m so exhausted from training but I wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go. I’m thinking about getting the new Nike Free’s after the race to start running in, has anyone tried them? Any comments/feedback? Or should I just stick my Saucony’s?

Anyhoo, if you’re in the area and like to run, you should sign up! It’s only $27 and you get a free tech running shirt. You also get the chance to dress up and they will be awarding prices for the craziest outfits! The link is below and let me know if you do sign up!

April Fool's Run-Atlantic City-April 3, 2011

Preppin' for Patty

2011-03-16T11:42:00.003-04:00

Happy Wednesday! I’m in the process of assembling my St. Patrick’s day dinner menu for tomorrow night and feel as if I haven't posted in a few days- Turns out I have been using my husband’s camera for my cooking from this past weekend so I will update what I cooked the last few days and upload ASAP.

In the meantime, I thought I would post a few new blogs I have come across that are super cute and full of fun recipes/useful info to know try! What I ask of you is to comment and leave me one of your favorite blogs so I can stop on over for a few! Thanks all!

www.pansiesposies.blogspot.com

http://www.mangotomato.com/

http://garlicandseasalt.blogspot.com/

http://dinnersforayear.blogspot.com/

The Buzz Breakdown

2011-03-11T14:31:00.001-05:00

If you’re much like me and love “The Soup”, “E! News”, etc…I love when they do their week in review, best dressed/worst dressed and just an overall reflection of the past week so I thought I would put together my own Week in Review. I’m going to call it the Buzz Breakdown…

So last Friday I put some effort into planning our dinner recipes for the upcoming week to make my grocery shopping more efficient over the weekend with the ingredients I would need for the entire week, hence limiting my multiple trips to the grocery store throughout the week. I have to pat myself on the back and say that the planning actually was a success, as it should be , right? Lol, but it really did feel good to know that I had everything I needed in the fridge just ready for me to whip up. It also amazed me how many ingredients I had already had in my pantry and/or fridge from everyday things so budget wise, it was pretty too!

My Buzz Breakdown is below along with the recipes I used throughout the week. I know this won't always work but if I plan for 4-5 meals for the week, I’ll always have an extra meal here or there to whip up some other time since some days you have things to do after work or you go out to eat!

Sunday-Chicken Enchiladas (Kraft’s recipe with some minor tweaks on me end)
Monday-Asian Turkey Meatballs paired with white rice
Tuesday-out to dinner with Mom at Los Amigos
Wednesday-Anthony ended up grabbing a bite at work since he was working late and I was at the gym and got a mango tango smoothie on my way out and heated up some leftovers with another cooking creme I picked up last weekend (savory garlic, yum!) when I got home. Love love love their cooking cremes!
Thursday-Skinless chicken thighs w/ shallots in red wine vinegar
Friday-is Happy Hour at Tria Wine Bar in Philadelphia

As far as next week, I’m still working on my list as we speak, but I do know that I will be making the WW General Tso’s Chicken recipe which I’ve made before and it’s super quick and super delish!

Happy Friday bloggers and have a wonderful weekend!

Our Bee Hive

2011-03-10T11:54:00.000-05:00

So to catch you up to speed with our home projects, our upstairs hall bathroom is almost done! Anthony has been working so hard at this project after putting in long hours at work. His craftsmanship shows how talented he is! The shower is almost done tiling and then we just have the floor left to tile! The sage green color we chose for the walls really looks great against the dark wood cabinetry, and the intricate crown molding up top. We also ventured out and installed the sink faucets to the right side of the sink basin instead of centering them. Yay, so close to the finished product-and then on to the next! Home ownership-it's rewarding but a lot of work! Shewwwwy!

Buzz with the Bee

2011-03-08T16:52:00.001-05:00

I'm asking you to share with me some of your recommendations this week. Check out my questions/answers below and then "Comment" me with your favorites! I am always up for checking out new things and to see what else is on the bloggers minds!!

1. What's your favorite blog site of the week? http://www.pansiesposies.blogspot.com/
2. What's a new item you bought this week? Giada De Laurentiis for Target - Parmesan Garlic Vinaigrette-found at Target for $2.99

3. What's your favorite way to serve/cook potatoes? Mashed

4. What book are you currently reading? The Help by Kathryn Stockett

5. Favorite reality TV show this season? Bethenny Ever After

Cloudy with a bowl of Turkey Meatballs

2011-03-07T21:55:00.000-05:00

As I train for the April Fool's 11k run in Atlantic City, I've been spending time at the gym running after work since I keep hitting snooze on my alarm clock in the morning. So I've had to prepare my grocery list and coordinate schedules with Ant to figure out what time I'd be home to make a healthy dinner that wasn't making us sit down at 9pm at night. So I actually took the time last week and spent time perusing my favorite cooking blogs and websites to figure out our dinner menu for the upcoming week by using simple quick recipes but with a dash of culture. I've got to say that if you have time to pre plan your dinner menu the week prior, not only does it make your grocery shopping more efficient and dinner planning easier, but you also avoid stopping at the grocery store every other day if you forgot something from the weekend. Not to mention saves on gas, especially with the prices rising right now, eeek! Sorry, I digress...

Sooooo yesterday was my take on Kraft's Mexican Enchiladas and tonight was Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping sauce from www.skinnytaste.com and was so super simple and very easy to follow...
I added more panko bread crumbs then it called for since my mixture was still too wet from the egg, added two extra cloves of garlic (I can't help it!), and as I'm typing my blog post this very minute and looking over the recipe again, I realised that I actually forgot the ginger (ha)! It took me about 10 minutes of prep and 15 minutes to cook. I also paired this with some white rice and the dipping sauce was phenominal. I love the fresh clean crisp taste of the cilantro and when mixed with the turkey meat, it's not overpowering as one would think when you think cilantro. At any rate, we have enough leftovers for tomorrow night if need be. Check out the recipe below and again another thumbs up recipe from Ginas Skinny Recipes

Asian Turkey Meatballs With Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 4 • Size: 3 meatballs • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 229.1 • Fat: 11.1 g • Carbs: 8.5 g • Protein: 24.3 g

1/4 cup panko crumbs
1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

Dipping Sauce

4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 chopped fresh scallion

Preheat oven to 500°F.

Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
For the dipping sauce mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add scallions.

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce.

Serve meatballs with remaining sauce, about 1 tbsp per person. You'll have leftover sauce, trust me!

Makes 12 meatballs

Thanks Gina!

Ench for Enchiladas

2011-03-06T20:05:00.000-05:00

If you're like me and watch the Cooking Channel and Food Network (along with some Bravo along the way), you would have seen the new Kraft Philly cooking creme commercials. My girlfriend Kellie from Wilmington, NC had emailed me a chicken enchilada recipe a couple days prior when I realized it called for those cooking cremes and after looking at the recipe, it seemed pretty easy. While at the grocery store on Friday night, I picked up a tub of the Santa Fe cooking creme for $1.99 to put on the docket for our Sunday night dinner. I followed the recipe for the most part but garlic and some diced red and green pepper to the onion and halfed the Santa Fe creme-the recipe below reflects my revisions but you can find the original recipe by clicking on the "Easy Chicken Enchilada's" title below. Check out Kraft's website as both Kellie and I have used a few of their recipes and are easy for midweek dinners!

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Prep Time 15 mins

Total Time 35 mins
servings 4 servings

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
salt and pepper
1/ 2 cup diced green and red pepper
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 can(14.5 oz.) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
1 /2 tub (10 oz.)PHILADELPHIA Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese
8 flour tortillas (6 inch)

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F.
Cook and stir onions, peppers, and salt and pepper in hot oil in large skillet on medium heat 4 to 5 min. or until crisp-tender. Stir in chicken, tomatoes, 3/4 cup cooking creme and shredded cheese.
Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up. Place in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining cooking creme. Cover.
Bake 15 to 20 min. or until heated through and enjoy!

It's like Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, but even better...RESTAURANT WEEK IS COMING!

2011-03-04T16:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday!

Just wanted to let you know that it’s soon to be restaurant week in SJ and thought I would pass on the website with participating restaurants should you be interested

March 20^th-25th

http://sjhotchefs.com/restweek/index.php

mmmm Catelli's, Los Amigos and The Chophouse-my favorites!

http://www.losamigosrest.com/Berlin/

http://www.thechophouse.us/

http://www.catellirestaurant.com/

You can also click on the Recipes tab http://sjhotchefs.com/recipes/index.htm

and find dozens of great recipes from some of our local restaurants

like Scaturro's Pan Seared Scallops by Chef David Levecchia!

Turkey for Tacos!

2011-03-03T11:59:00.000-05:00

I have to quickly blog about this recipe I stumbled across online and share it with you all. Unfortunately, my camera was lifeless last night as I left my charger at work, so I have no pictures to post, but like I said, this is blog worthy enough and her pictures do justice!

I love tacos but the meat and grease that goes along with it and taco packets are filled with sodium and high calories that quite frankly I'm trying to avoid...and then Gina's Skinny Recipe's Blog http://www.skinnytaste.com/ came across my eyes..you have to try this! It's super quick and easy and for the most part, you probably already have half the ingredients in your fridge, pantry and spice cabinet.. My hubby loved it and devoured a few of them..the turkey meat tasted soo good you would have never knew the difference. This is also WW friendly! So enjoy and check out my new favorite blogger!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/04/turkey-taco-lettuce-wraps-3-pts.html?showComment=1299171012958#c8483479149596875459

Garlicky Rice paired with Sesame Soy Red Pepper Flake chicken

2011-02-23T11:44:00.000-05:00

Last night we had leftovers, and I had plans for Wednesday night for dinner in the city with my girlfriend and so I wanted to leave a quick dinner for my husband to heat up when he got home from work since I would be out. So I wanted to try a new recipe I had come across on one of my favorite bloggers blog (http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/). This way I could have his dinner all made and extra to bring to work for my lunch today! This is super quick and the flavors and textures really give this meal a unique bite!

Garlicky Rice

Adapted blog recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net (one of my favorite blogs)

Original recipe by The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook

1 tsp olive oil
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of white rice (original recipe calls for Basmati, but I didn't have it in my pantry so I used long grain white and it worked great)
2 cups of chicken broth
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Green onions, diced

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute; add the minced garlic then cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the chicken broth and season the water with a bit of sea salt and pepper, to taste; bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and cook over medium low for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and don't touch for 5 minutes. Add the green onions and mix until well combined. Serve immediately and Enjoy.

Sesame Soy Red Pepper flake chicken

*rice always goes great with chicken so I looked in my fridge for something I could use to keep the asian flair with the rice and scallions dish and came up with the following on a whim...

blog recipe and photos by The Basil Bee.blogspot.com

1 lb chicken tenderloins (about 7-8 tenderloins)
salt and pepper
garlic salt
red pepper flakes
low sodium soy sauce
Trader Joe's Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette

wash and pat dry the chicken and cut into 1 inch cube sized pieces
season with salt and pepper, pinch of red pepper flakes to your liking, and hint of garlic salt and put in bowl
drizzle 3 tablespoons of the sesame soy ginger vinaigrette over the chicken and mix together
drizzle 1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce over the chicken and mix
then let chicken marinate in the fridge for 15-20 minutes
heat medium sautee pan on medium-high heat. when a drop of water sizzles on the pan, drop the chicken and let cook for about 45 seconds and then stir. Continue to cook for about 3 minutes until chicken is done.

Serve the garlicky rice in a bowl with chicken on top and drizzle with the sauce left in pan and wallah! Quick dinner in 20 minutes!

Gaga for Chicken Pot Pie

2011-02-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

To pea or not to pea...my answer is, "I don't like peas" (unlike my mom who loves them) so I wont use them in a chicken pot pie recipe! I've tried a few different recipes of the infamous comfort food we all know and love as Chicken Pot Pie. I could never get the rich creaminess of the pot pie you salivate for until Kellie's mom introduced me to the southern style (Weddington, NC to be exact) pot pie that has all my favorite ingredients and super easy to make even as a college kid!

You will need the following ingredients

3-4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
4 russet potatoes sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup carrots sliced in circles
1 can of Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup
Salt & Pepper
shredded cheese of your choice ( I used a blend of mozzarella and Monterey Jack)
Celery salt
Garlic salt (optional, I love garlic, so I added it)
(1) sheet of Pepperidge Farms puff pastry
tablespoon of EVOO and some dry herbs of your choice in a small dish and let them infuse for about 10-15 minutes ( I chose a Tuscan blend)

Directions:

Turn oven on to 425 degrees
Bring a big pot of water with a dash of salt to a boil and drop the chicken, potatoes, and carrots in the pot. Once chicken is cooked through and carrots and potatoes are aldente, strain them and put into PAM greased casserole dish.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, celery salt and garlic salt and stir.
Add cheddar cheese soup and stir well together
Cover the top layer with shredded cheese
Place the puff pastry over the dish covering all of the ingredients. Take the EVOO and infused herbs and spread over the puff pastry with a pastry brush to get a nice sweet golden brown crust on the puff pastry. I had some left over puff pastry too, so I was creative and placed hearts and an "F" for my new last name initial!
Transfer to oven on middle rack for about 15-20 minutes until puff pastry is golden brown
Serve and enjoy!

Our wedding, February 5th, 2011-Paradisus Punta Cana

2011-02-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

We are back and newly wed! We just got back from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic where Anthony and I married on the beach at Paradisus Punta Cana Resort! We had 55 guests in attendance and had a wonderful time all week long with activities! We wish we were still there! Upon our arrival back to the states, we both came down with a terrible headcold/flu so we are just getting back on our feet and I will be returning to the kitchen with all my new gadgets from our registry! Will be blogging more soon and posting pics from our wedding shortly! Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Happy Valentine's Day to my husband Anthony! xoxoxo

Tomato & Basil Pesto Parmesan Tart

2011-01-20T16:25:00.000-05:00

Wow! It has been some time since I've blogged! With only 2 weeks to go until my wedding, one can obviously tell I've been a busy bee! So two weeks from today, I will be arriving Punta Cana for our destination wedding of a lifetime… We are just so excited and can’t wait!
So back to cooking! Anthony and I had some friends over for dinner one night and I decided to try this tomato and basil pesto parmesan tart I had been dying to make ever since I became a fan of Closet Cooking’s blog (http://www.closetcooking.com/2010/08/tomato-and-basil-pesto-parmesan-tart.html) . I saw his recipe and salivated just looking at his pictures- I mean it has all of my favorite ingredients and almost like a flat bread pizza! Who wouldn’t love this! So I decided to make this as an appetizer! This was super quick and easy-I made it even easier by picking up some pre made pesto I got at Wegman’s Olive bar-but I will be trying this recipe again, using my own pesto- I promise.
So here’s what you need for this amazing treat…

Tomato and Basil Pesto Parmesan Tart

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 sheet puff pastry (thawed according to the packages directions)

1/2 cup basil pesto

1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano (grated)

2 large ripe field tomatoes (thinly sliced)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Roll the puff pastry out to a 16x10 inch rectangle.

2. Score a line around the puff pastry 1/2 inch from the edge. You can use a fork or pastry roller

3. Spread the pesto over the center of the dough and top with the parmigiano reggiano.

4. Arrange the tomato slices in a single layer on top of the pesto and parmigiano reggiano.

5. Brush the outside 1/2 inch of the pastry with the oil. You can even add some garlic salt to the olive oil to give it some garlic!

6. Bake in a preheated 400F oven until the pastry is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes

7. slice, serve, and enjoy!

Yummy Pumpkin Cookies!

2010-11-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, October 24^th, Troops in Pink helped Make Strides Against Breast Cancer at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, NJ! This was my (3^rd) year as a team leader and to thank my team mates for their support and donations I made some Halloween treat bags with Peanut Butter Chocolate kiss cookies and the most delicious cookies I’ve made to date, Pumpkin cookies. They were so warm and soft like the top of a muffin sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar, and I’m not even a big Pumpkin fan! I think I will be making these again for some Thanksgiving treats as we travel to Arlington, VA for the holidays!

The Pumpkin cookie recipe from a fabulous blog at the link below...Thanks Joy!

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2008/10/pumpkin-cookies-revisited/

Peanutbananafluff Dessert Panini

2010-10-14T13:05:00.002-04:00

Ant and I had Panini's one night for dinner and since I had the Panini maker already out, when it came to dessert, I decided to try something new using pantry staples of some of his favorite things...

Ingredients

2 slices of cinnamon raisin bread
1 banana sliced
Peanut butter
Butter
Fluff

Directions:

Spread small slither of butter on one side of each slice, butter side down.
Spread peanut butter on one slice and top with sliced banana
Spread Fluff on other slice of bread and put that on top of the banana slice to make a sandwich
Lay onto Panini maker and shut it for 3-4 minutes until toasted and everything starts to melt
slice in half and you have a taste of dessert goodness for your night capper!

Garlic Lemon Shrimp and Orzo

2010-10-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

After searching high and low for a yummy quick shrimp orzo recipe, I stumbled across this blog and decided to try it out. This was super quick and super delicious. I always ask Ant where it ranks and he said one of my TOP 5 dishes and one of his favorites, so hence I’m posting and leading you to check out this blog as some of her dishes make you salvate and want to make everything she has on there!

Dinners for a Year and Beyond

Garlic Lemon Shrimp and Orzo
serves 6
2 cups orzo, cooked al dente and drained

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lemon, juiced and zested--I didn't have a lemon, but used lemon juice from the fridge instead in case you run into similar scenario and don't want to run out to the store!
1 cup white wine---for the white wine, I chose Sutter Home Sauvignon Blanc as that's what I had on hand
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 pounds of shrimp, 21 - 25 count, peeled and deveined
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and cook for about 5 - 6 minutes or until they are soft but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Add the lemon juice, zest, and wine. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and cook for 2 - 3 minutes to meld the flavors together. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in pat of butter until melted.
Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked through, about 4 - 5 minutes. Toss shrimp and sauce with the orzo, parsley and Parmesan. Serve with extra cheese.

My first Penne a la Vodka

2010-10-14T12:27:00.000-04:00

After researching and googling penne vodka recipes after one another and talking to my friends about how to make a yummy vodka sauce, I jumbled everything together and made my own and came out really good. I actually stood at my stove, and said "Wow, I did pretty good!" hehe..see below for how I made mine. I think next time I'm going to add crab meat to this concoction!

Ingredients:

(3) tablespoons of EVOO

(1) Small onion diced

1 (28oz) can of crushed tomatoes

(3) cloves garlic

pinch of red pepper flakes (pends on your spice level)

1 pint heavy cream

1 cup vodka

Penne pasta

Salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Take a medium sauce pan (this sauce makes a lot, so medium size or bigger) and heat oil on medium heat, add onions and sauté for 5-6 minutes until see through, then add garlic for 1-2 minutes
Add can of crushed tomatoes, add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to your tasting, and simmer for 15 minutes
Stir in Vodka and cook 15 minutes more
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain; put back in pot
Stir cream into sauce and cook 10 minutes more
Pour sauce over pasta to well coat and then serve and top with grated parmesan cheese

I also made a few chicken cutlets just to add for Ant, but that's an entirely different day for posting!

Asian Cuisine with Lauren

2010-10-12T15:42:00.000-04:00

This past Friday night, my girlfriend Lauren and I (if you’re a follower, we both made the lasagna in my blog) decided we were going to stay in to watch the Phillies, drink some wine, and cook! Our theme was Asian cuisine since we did Italian the month prior. Our 3 plates to make were Asian Lettuce Wraps, Lo Mein, and Creole shrimp (now we know that Creole shrimp is not Asian, so it was our wild card, so we threw it in there just to have some type of shrimp dish and this looked too delicious to pass up).

We did change some of the ingredients; you'll see ours listed below and then you can see the actual recipe and they called for...it’s totally up to you!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sunny-anderson/asian-lettuce-wraps-recipe/index.html

· 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

· 1 lb chicken tenderloins cut into small cubes

· 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely grated – or you can use ginger powder like we did

· 2 scallions, chopped

· 2 cloves garlic, minced

· 2 tablespoons soy sauce

· 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (this makes it very spicccccy, you may want to half it if you are more on the mild side!)

· 1/4 cup hoisin sauce

· 1/4 cup chopped peanuts

· Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Creole Shrimp

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/quick-creole-shrimp-115895.aspx

1 lb. frozen uncooked cleaned large shrimp, thawed

1 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning

1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

I can't seem to locate our Lo Mein recipe at the moment, when I do, I'll add it to this blog...but we cooked a lb of pasta and we seriously could feed an army!

This is our completed plate, paired with some Vinho Verde and some Yellowtail red wine, e it was yummy, super simple, and better than take out!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup on a Crisp Autumn Day

2010-10-04T18:18:00.000-04:00

Still no oven, but no worries, I've been making good use of all my appliances and kitchen gadgets for meals. Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day and a bit on the chilly side so I looked in the fridge to see what I had and my eyes went to my red potatoes and I thought to whip up a warm comfort food and change up a WW baked potato soup I had tried last year and make it my own..the key to this healthy version of baked potato soup is using milk...

4 (6oz.) red potatoes
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup prechopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 and 1/4 cups fat free, lower sodium chicken broth (you can use a 1 can)
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups 1%milk (divided)
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 turkey bacon slices, halved
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup croutons
1 tablespoon parsley

1. Pierce potatoes with a fork, microwave on high for 13 minutes; take them out, cut in half, and let them cool.
2. While potatoes cook, heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, sautee 3 minutes, add the garlic and add chicken broth. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk and pour into saucepan. Then add remaining 1 and a 1/2 cups milk. Bring to a boil; stir often. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper, garlic powder and parsley.
3. Arrange bacon on paper towel on microwave safe plate; microwave on high for 2 minutes until crisp (be careful as it can burn fast). Crumble the bacon and set aside.
4. Back to the potatoes-discard potatoe skins, turn on low and coarsely mash potatoes into soup and taste test. Serve in soup bowls and top with cheese, green onions, crumbled bacon, and a few croutons.

This bowl of soup will turn any Fall afternoon into a warm savory night! Enjoy!

Fall Decorating on a Dime

2010-10-01T18:53:00.000-04:00

One night last week I was cooking dinner and realized I needed a little Autumn-ness on my kitchen table as we embraced October 1st so I set out on my lunch break to AC Moore. I bought a large mason jar for a $1 and got some cute fall flowers that were $1 a piece and I was able to mix and match of my choice. When I got home I had some leftover stones from a candle centerpiece I had used earlier in the year and I filled up the mason jar with them, arranged my flowers and placed some cute gords in front of it with a fall scented candle and it matched my green table runner! This inexpensive centerpiece dressed up my kitchen table in no time and was so simple!

Chicken and Mango Panini Quesadillas

2010-09-28T15:59:00.000-04:00

I feel like a decade has gone by since I’ve posted, not having an oven has really limited my recipes during the week so I apologize for my MIA’ness. I found a great recipe for Chicken and Mango Quesadillas and decided to change it up a bit especially since I couldn’t bake my chicken, I had no peppers, and I decided to try my quesadillas using my new Panini maker. This is a unique way to change up a regular quesadilla and add some more healthy goodness to your dinner!

1 lb. Boneless chicken breast tenders (about 8 tenders)
Small onion
6 garlic cloves, peeled
2 scallions
1 mango diced
1 lemon
Kosher salt
Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
4 Whole wheat flour tortillas
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Non fat sour cream and your favorite salsa, optional to garnish

Preparing the chicken

1. In a food processor, pulse the garlic until finely minced. Add 1/2 of the onion and pulse until the onions are well chopped, without becoming pasty.

2. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the chicken tenders. Put chicken in large bowl or plate and squeeze some lemon juice over each and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Spread the onion and garlic over each chicken tender and rub over chicken tenders. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preparing the Quesadillas

1. Thinly slice the remaining half of the onion. Lightly coat a skillet with olive oil and warm over a medium heat. Saute the sliced onion for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken tenders and let heat up for 4 minutes then flip over until no longer pink in the middle. Remove from heat and set aside. Now turn your Panini maker on…

*If you don’t want to sautee the chicken and have an oven, put marinated pieces of chicken on foil lined shallow roasting plan and preheat the oven to 375. Roast the chicken at 375 for about 30 minutes. The chicken should begin to turn golden brown. Slice the chicken tenders.

2. Lightly brush olive oil over a tortilla and top 1/2 of the tortilla with cheese, sauteed onion, thinly cut scallions, sliced chicken, cilantro, and sliced mango. Fold in half and place on Panini and close it for 4-5 minutes while it cooks. You want to see the crispy Panini lines in the tortilla and then remove. Repeat with each remaining tortilla.

3. Slice each quesadilla into three pieces. Garnish with salsa and sour cream as desired and serve immediately.

I also tried a new side recipe with rice. I boiled white rice and then I added a small dab of butter, salt, diced tomato, feta, and basil. It was delicious and super easy. I called it my Mexican meets Italian night! The mango with the chicken in the quesadilla was a sweet and savory taste and you just want to eat more and more...enjoy!

Meatballs with Krista

2010-09-15T13:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday afternoon was dedicated to spending time at Krista’s (friend from work) with her 3 year old son Anthony, 8 month year old Gianna, and learning how to make meatballs, so I was super excited! Some things I learned was NEVER USE TURKEY MEAT if you want true Italian meatballs. Add egg if the meat is too hard and bread crumbs if meat is to soft and you need a large stainless steel pot that isn’t in a standard set of pots. Oh yeah, and make sure you have about 3-4 hours to make this all come together! Grab a friend and a bottle of wine and here we go..

Step 1-the meatballs
·         We used ground beef, pork, and veal meat that you can buy at the grocery store (same stuff you get to make meatloaf).
·         Heat olive oil with garlic slices in the bottom
·         Cut onions in small pieces and put in bowl with meat
·         Use 1 egg per pound of meat
·         A cup of Italian seasoned bread crumbs
·         Half cup parmesan and Romano cheese
·         Mix in parsley, seasoned salt, pepper, salt, and garlic salt
·         Roll the balls and drop in the pot in one layer
·         Wait till they brown and flip over
·         Remove meatballs, set aside in separate bowl, keep the oil and brokened up meat pieces in the pot (we will use this for our sauce)

Step 2-Sautéing Sausage
·         You can use Italian (hot) or mild (sweet) sausage pending on your taste buds
·         Use skilled and heat some oil
·         Cut sausages in the middle to take off the skin
·         Slice garlic cloves and add to skillet
·         Place sausages in skillet and cook on low-medium
·         Wait for them to brown and then flip over
·         Leave everything in skillet including juices (we will use this for our sauce)

Step 3-Time to make the Gravy!!

·         Go back to the big pot and add some more olive oil
·         Crush garlic and add to pot
·         Add I small can of tomato paste and stir
·         Add 2 tomato puree large cans and stir
·         Then add all seasonings again-no parsley though (only for meatballs). Next time I'm going to add some oregano
·         Stir for a bit
·         Add basil leaves to the pot (cut or uncut)
·         Then add 2 big cans of crushed tomatoes
·         Then add all the sausage with its drippings
·         Add some more garlic
·         Then add the meatballs and grease from bowl
·         Put on low and let sit for an hour to absorb all the deliciousness
·         After one hour do a taste test to see if you need to add any additional seasonings.

** This is Krista’s recipes so she adds flavors to her families tastes but this is where you can get creative and add the seasonings to satisfy how your family likes it!

Then voila! Cook up some pasta and you have homemade gravy and meatballs (and sausage!). You’ve probably made enough for the month so you can take storage containers and freeze some for later use! Krista gave me plenty to take home and I made angel hair pasta with meatballs and sauce and Anthony was impressed! Thanks Krista!

Oven-less this weekend so posting Kellie's dinner from Friday!

2010-09-15T12:36:00.000-04:00

I’m so sad to say I was unable to cook over the weekend, not because I was too busy or was nervous about attempting these recipes, but I came home Friday night to yet another hole in my kitchen, and this time it involved the removal of my oven!! My thoughts exactly! It needed to be re-centered and we are getting a new microwave that sits on top of the oven to give me more counter space, but Ant didn’t advise me prior to when he was going to do this and of course on his day off, he decided to demo. Of course all this week I’m thinking what to make for dinner without the oven. I can’t even make garlic bread!

So my best buddy Kellie from North Carolina shared with me today what she made on Friday after she had emailed me asking for some ideas to make a fun and tasty Friday night dinner at home. Since I haven’t blogged yet from the weekend, I told her I was going to share this with all of you. So she decided to make it easy and use what was left in her fridge from the week which is fantastic and we all should do this instead of just wasting food and leftovers that we are all guilty of! Here’s what she wrote to me today…

I made some enchiladas last Friday night. I did a twist on a recipe I already knew - I was trying to use up some ingredients I already had. So I made beef enchiladas. I cooked the ground beef with taco seasoning, then mixed in a can of cheese soup and some green onions and cilantro and a little taco sauce. Then I wrapped em in tortillas and put them in a baking dish and covered them with enchilada sauce, Mexican cheese and baked it. Then I added black olives, cilantro and some white saucy Mexican cheese.

THANKS KELLIE!!

Fall Harvest Wine Festival-October 23rd, 2010 1-6pm in Atco, NJ

2010-09-10T14:19:00.000-04:00

Quick note from my fellow blogger Chef E..

Kick off the fall by joining in on the harvest and the fruits of a summer’s labor- Amalthea Cellars has agreed to partner up with Cultural Arts Expression- Performing Artists, a group of established New Jersey Musicians and Performance Artist and Poets in presenting a Fall Harvest Wine Festival, October 23rd, from 1-6 PM; that will include wine by the glass, a grape stomp, local art vendors, Randi’s Gourmet Foods, and a few new and upcoming authors reading from they’re works. Enjoy Amalthea’s well known Italian Buffet for $12 with a glass of your favorite wines rain or shine.

Bring your lawn chairs, and or blankets because it’s going to be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the numerous varieties of Amalthea wines, as you sit in the sprawling grounds of their beautiful property and listening to some of the great sounds of blues, country, rock-n-roll greats, as well as original music of local writing talent from the New Jersey area. Tours of the property will be available upon request, as well as self guided vineyard tours.

The Fall Harvest Festival is going to be a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the enchanting sights, sounds of the rustic Pine Barren region of New Jersey- The Pine Barrens of NJ is home to several excellent award-winning wineries that produce a wide variety of red and white wines, so it is not surprising that Amalthea has caught on to adding great music and talent to their repertoire of great wine and foods.

Performers Line-up:

Eli The Hawk, Dennis Nobile, Flora Newberry and Mike Riley, Kevin John Allen, Red Dashboard, Danielle Steward, Howie Troutman, Amalthea’s own- Lou Harvey/Poet, Vox Poetica, Nancy Halter- Off The Record, and Barry/Andrea Hollander.

Check out WAMPP blog for more South Jersey Fall season event information at http://wampp.cookappeal.com/

Weekend recipe to-do lists...

2010-09-10T14:06:00.000-04:00

Thought I would be proactive this weekend with picking out some recipes that I’m going to try over the weekend that look delicious! I am heading to the farmers market tomorrow morning where I hope to grab some veggie/fruits, I still can’t believe the summer has come to an end, only a few weeks left of fresh summer produce! Here are the recipes I am going to attempt this weekend...

Crispy Potato Bites with sour cream and bacon by Sandra Lee. I saw her make these on Sandra’s Money Saving Meals on The Food Network last Sunday

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/crispy-baby-potato-bites-with-sour-cream-and-bacon-recipe/index.html

Salsa Verde- this recipe is from one of my favorite blogs “Closet Cooking”

http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2007/08/salsa-verde.html

Chicken and Mango Quesadilla

http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/376523-mango-and-chicken-quesadilla

I’ll update with pics and reviews over the weekend!

BTW-I just joined foodbuzz (food blog community) this week and love it! They have some amazing bloggers with even more ideas and recipes than you can imagine! I got the Chicken and Mango quesadilla recipe from there…Check it out http://www.foodbuzz.com/

Mighty OJ Juicer

2010-09-08T11:35:00.000-04:00

In my recent cooking classes they have been using some hand held juicers and some of the recipes I have tried in the past couple weeks have called for one as well and I don't have one! So since I didn't have one, I improvised and then I finally added it to my registry. The other night while making Peanut Thai chicken in the crock pot, it called for lime juice and I squeezed as hard as I could and then asked Anthony for some assistance. He realized how tough it was to get the juice out. So to my surprise, I came home from work last night and saw a Crate and Barrel gift bag on my kitchen table with a note from Ant. I opened it up and he got me the Mighty OJ Juicer! It's so sleek looking with all chrome parts and kind of mimics the look of a transormer, hehe! At any rate, I was so surprised and so happy and was looking around the house for something to juice, but I came up empty handed. Does anyone have one and/or used it yet? Does anyone have a terrific juice recipe in which I can create something using this juicer this week?

Va La Winery-Avondale, PA

2010-09-07T14:31:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday over Labor Day weekend, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and so Anthony and I decided to take a little drive to Va La winery about an hour from us in Avondale, PA. Va La is in the middle of farmland and so very cute!

This was Anthony’s first winery and wine tasting and we had a fun time! They had a jazz band playing outside while serving visiting guests wood oven bistro pizza’s as we lounged outside in the lounge chairs/tables after the tastings. Va La’s home vineyard contains 6.73 acres and the produce about 500- 750 cases of (4) different wines yearly. Our wine tastings were paired with baguettes, foccacia breads and different cheeses that really went well together. Below are the wines we tasted with their pairings...

La Prima Donna (2007)-this is white wine close to a Pinot Grigio paired well with fish dishes, white sauces, and Asian cuisine. They served this with locally farmed goat cheese with honey. I’m not the biggest goat cheese fan, but the honey made it so tasty!

Castana (2006)-this is a light red wine great for grilled meats, Bolognese sauces and Mexican cuisines. They served this with a sharp goat cheese and like I said, there is a huge different between a sharp goat cheese and the one prior I had with honey.

Siranetta (2007)-This is a red blend Syrah, merlot, petit verdot, cabernet. This wine goes great with beef, lamb, and red sauces. They served this with a medium bodied cheddar cheese that was perfectly paired!

Mahogany (2008)-my favorite and their specialty wine with flavors evolving towards leather, coffee, and dark chocolates. Paired well with lamb, prime rib, reduction sauces and aged cheeses. They served this with Focaccia, sharp cheddar, and a chocolate truffle.

Italian Night with Lauren-Lasagna 101

2010-09-07T14:06:00.000-04:00

So much to catch up on! Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend! This past Tuesday, 9/1/10, my girlfriend Lauren came over and we both attempted our first lasagna together after work. Word of the wise, leave lasagna’s for the weekends, it takes much needed prep time and bake time, we didn’t eat until 9pm! But we kept each other company with wine glasses full and in hand as we caught up over weekly gossip!

Anthony was our tester and we realized how much seasoning makes the difference. Just when we thought it was ready, we ended up putting more salt and oregano and made it much tastier! The lasagna came out pretty good for our first attempt. Two other things we learned was to use the appropriate sized baking dish and when you put foil on top of it to bake, make sure it’s not touching the cheese underneath, if it does, when you remove the foil ,you remove the top layer of mozzarella cheese too!

We also tried two different ways of making Caprese salads! Lauren used a premade bruschetta mix on top of mozzarella slices and I cut a tomato in half, made a bowl on the bottom piece and put layered diced tomatoes and mozzarella pieces topped with basil with balsamic and olive oil. We both forgot the salt though, which is a necessary seasoning for Caprese salads!

Hello

2010-09-06T10:12:00.001-04:00

Hi Bees....your blog looks great, but no bears!

Shore to Please

2010-08-31T11:59:00.000-04:00

I’m back from the most beautiful beach days that summer could give to us down at the Jersey Shore in Wildwood with some girlfriends!

Since we were all arriving at different times Friday night, we decided to keep it simple with appetizers and drinks. We started with Jodi’s mom’s mozzarella, tomato and basil plate where I found a new balsamic vinegar that I really like (Bellino aceto). We also had homemade Margherita pizza made with Boboli, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and oregano), my crab dip, Jodi’s parmesan artichoke dip, Marissa’s guacamole, Erica’s buffalo chicken dip, shrimp cocktail, and a fruit and veggie plate! We snacked on these goodies all weekend long...

My friend Jodi, who hosted us, introduced us all to the delicious Belmont Skinnygirl Cocktail from

Bethenny Frankel’s website and highly recommended! The ingredients are as follows:

4 tablespoons vodka
3 tablespoons club soda
1 tablespoon Peach Schnapps
1 tablespoon orange juice

*Serve on the rocks and if you want to spice it up, garnish with an orange slice!

So, my shopping list for this week is to stock my pantry/fridge/freezer with some new balsamic vinegar, Boboli pizza crust, buffalo mozzarella, and Peach Schnapps. This way if I have visitors at the house I can whip up a quick homemade pizza and yummy drink!

2010-08-27T15:25:00.000-04:00

I'm heading down the shore this weekend to visit some girl friends in which we will be making some yummy appetizers and drinks featuring
the Skinny Girl Margarita by Bethenny Frankel from The Real Housewives of NY. Not to worry as I will update my blog as soon as I get back with lots of fun things from the weekend to share with you. While anticipating my return, I thought I'd leave you today with a few of my favorite things in the kitchen…

Being an avid Vera Bradley fan, that all my friends, coworkers, and family can attest to, I have to start with my Vera Bradley Apron Gift Set in the Blue Rhapsody and it’s the perfect cooking accessory for the female chef in the kitchen! The set includes an apron that’s packaged in a coordinating fabric-covered recipe box. The apron ties around the neck and waist, has a small ruffle across the chest that accentuates the top, while two pockets below help hold utensils and hand towels. You can also get your initials monogrammed on the front. My mom, my sister, and I all have an apron in different fabrics and love them!

The other fun thing about the recipe box is that you can buy fun recipe cards of your choice. There are a lot of great websites out there where you can choose whatever design you’d like. My sister, Erin bought me the super cute Bee Recipe cards pictured above to keep track of all my recipes!

My best buddy Kellie from Wilmington, NC sent an Oster Electric Wine Opener to my fiancee and I for a housewarming gift and it’s just a genius and so thoughtful for the avid wine drinker! No more twisting the knozzle, no more half corks still stuck in the bottle, and no more pinching of the fingers!

The Oster Wine Opener is easy-to-use and effective. All you have to do is place the opener over the neck of the wine bottle and press the button. In a matter of seconds the cork is removed without any effort. Corks are removed quickly and in one piece, every time! The Oster Wine Opener is portable and comes with it’s own recharging station that also houses a foil cutter. According to the manufacturer, the device can open 30 bottles of wine on a single charge! They are currently $19.99 at Bed Bath and Beyond so get this in your kitchen if you don't already have one!

Easy Cheesey Garlic Chicken

2010-08-26T09:34:00.000-04:00

I found a recipe online yesterday called Garlic Cheddar Chicken at allrecipes.com and switched some things around since I didn't have all the ingredients at home. I made this for dinner last night and the chicken came out so juicy and the breading was crispy and so delicious that I wanted to share with you. Prep time takes about 15 minutes and cook time is 35-40 minutes depending on your oven. So, of course while it's baking I was catching up on the Hollywood gossip on The Daily 10! Below are the ingredients in which I used...

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
4 teaspoons minced garlic
3/4 cup 4C Seasoned Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese (consists of 4 different cheeses; asiago, provolone, mild cheddar, and Parmesan)
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.
In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.

4.Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

5. Bake 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Ant was running out the door so I quick made rice and threw some carrots on the plate with some garlic bread. If I had more time I would of made our vegetable a little more pretty looking (LOL) but Ant gave it a thumbs up and said "the bee out did herself again, this chicken is cooked perfectly!"

Eat, Pray, Love...Wine

2010-08-25T21:45:00.000-04:00

I can't say enough about the book and movie "Eat Pray Love." If you love to cook and/or travel and you haven't read it yet or seen the movie, I highly suggest it... I read this book in between cooking and baking, waiting for the timer to ding as the character Liz was traveling and eating her way through Italy... If I could add just one more word to the end of the title in which I did in my heading, "Wine", this would reflect everything about me. After having read this book, I find myself smiling more, an even bigger passion to cook, and of course, travel to Italy, India, and Bali! Enjoy!

Low country NC Shrimp Boil

2010-08-25T15:32:00.000-04:00

I emailed my friend Kellie from Wilmington, NC and said "you gotta send me the recipe for the shrimp boil that we had when we visited you in!" I just had to share this with you because it was so delicious and since summer is starting to decline, we want to hold on to it as long as we can, and this will make you feel like summer all night long! Thanks KELLIE!!

What you need:

Large Crab Pot
Bag of baby red skin potatoes (cut in halves)
Bag of Peel n'eat frozen shrimp (big or small, whichever you prefer - I like shrimp so I get the big bag of medium to large size shrimp 40-60count)
1-2 Hilshire Farms Kielbasa or Smoked Sausages cut into quarter inch slices (depending on how much sausage you like or how many people be eatin' - I like sausage, so 2 in the pot for me)
1 box of Zatarans Crab Boil Bag
Optional - Fresh or Frozen corn on the cob
Ketchup, Horseradish, Lemon
Creole seasoning or Old Bay Seasoning

What you do:

Boil water in Crab Pot with your Zatarans Crab Boil Packet (fill it up with water a little more than half way)
Dump in your halved potatoes and let cook for about 20-25 minutes (until almost tender but still slightly al dente)
Dump in the frozen or fresh corn and cook for about 3 minutes
Add in the sliced sausages and frozen shrimp (shrimp boil is ready when the shrimp turn pink and start floating- this is about another 3-5 minutes)

Make the Cocktail Sauce:

Mix in half ketchup to half horseradish (more ketchup if you don't prefer the sting of horseradish), sprinkle in desired amount of old bay or creole seasoning & squirt a half a lemon into your mix. Stir it up.

Dump everything out on a table (with a vinyl table cloth cover) and eat it up! (i recommend stock piling your favorite item in your own corner since it goes quick!)

Rachel Ray's recipe for Spanish Burgers with Manchego

2010-08-25T09:48:00.000-04:00

Tuesday night I made the Spanish burgers minus the chorizo hash browns (since I forgot to get those ingredients, hehe) but I substituted roasted potato wedges instead with chopped up cucumber from my garden and made a peanut butter dipping sauce.

Rachel Ray's spanish-burgers-with-manchego Recipe

Not only have I never made burgers before but I don't have a grill either. Turns out you really don't need one! You can either make them on a skillet on your stove or use an electric griddle like I did. The Manchego cheese really kicks these bad boys up a notch and were so good. Ant even said it was the best burger he's had and that seasoning that the recipe calls for is perfect! They would make great apps as sliders too!

My Garden

2010-08-24T12:32:00.000-04:00

After I got home from work last night, I went outside to check on my garden and realized, I should take some pictures to put up on here to let you see how its going! My fiancée built me a garden bed in June and its beautiful. It was a lot of work, a lot of dirt, but so worth it.

Below are some beginning pictures back in June

We planted cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, and green/red peppers to start out. Granted we planted them somewhat later then advised via the books I read about gardening, but thats OK. After dealing with some animal issues (note to future gardeners, put chicken wire up asap) and lack of rain in NJ this summer, I thought all our hard work was defeated since I had nothing to show,
but in the last few weeks, I've been proven wrong.

I have so many cherry tomatoes I don't know what to do with them (we have them in our salads, my pasta sauces, and now I'm venturing into salsa!). I have about 11 large beef steak tomatoes about to turn red, I have 3 green peppers, and 1 cucumber. I think my zucchini plant got sick because I got nothing out of it other than a lot of foliage, hehe, but there's always next year!

2010-08-23T14:18:00.000-04:00

Skinny Italian: Eat It and Enjoy It: Live La Bella Vita and Look Great, Too!

One of my favorite reality shows is The Real Housewives of NJ, and I especially love Teresa Giudice! She did a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Moorestown, NJ and of course I stood in line to meet her and have her sign (2) books; one for me and one for my friend Jodi who would of been right there in line with me, but was in Colorado at the time.

This is an absolutely beautiful cookbook but more than that, she talks about her family and culture in her same silly way you see her on TV. The 60 + recipes are great, instructions go above and beyond (she explains it so simply) and the illustrations make you want to cook everything in her book! I absolutely recommend this cookbook!

Novice cook and Novice Blogger intro

2010-08-23T12:52:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my first blog, The Basil Bee!! Let me tell you a bit about myself and how I got to this blogging part of my life... I’m 27 years old living in South Jersey, getting married in February, and recently bought a new home with my fiancée and we love wining and dining. I wanted to embrace that more and really learn how to cook, which has become my new passion the last few months! When I got engaged (and he’s Italian), I learned that “gravy” (not sauce from a jar) has so much more flavor than I ever imagined, and it’s all about finding the right seasonings and being able to control the flavor, which I never really paid much attention to! I love using fresh ingredients, and I like to experiment with different tastes and textures. I try to keep my recipes lower in fat but still tasting great.

My favorite hobbies are cooking, reading, traveling, running, surfing, reality TV shows (Food Network , Bravo, Cooking channel, etc...) and my new hobby of blogging with you so I decided to combine them all. and I'm thirsty for a great recipe book. There’s so much out there that I don’t know and I just want to embrace it all, hence , the creation of my first blog. A few of my friends have the same passion for cooking and learning all this stuff too, so you will be meeting some friends along the way throughout my blog...

So driving to work this morning, I’ve decided to stop overloading my friends inboxes with picture messages with things I’ve made over the weekend and the status of how my new garden of NJ tomatoes are growing and I just post it here and track my cooking historical events as I progress! I feel this will be a great way to organize recipes, get advice, share tips and most of all, share the love for cooking at the same time.

A big thank you to my amazing fiancée Anthony who has supported me through my egg spills, wrong ingredients, and other cooking/baking trials and errors I have surpassed. And another big thank you to my friends and family whose inbox's I overloaded with pics!

I hope my journey will help you other novice chefs to enhance your cooking experience and make taste buds smile!