meet evie!

 

A kitten has invaded our home!

Ryan and I are happy to welcome the newest addition to our family! She is 9 weeks old and such a ham.

our makeshift dining room

dining room

 

We don’t have a dining room table. We probably wont for a while. But for now we’re using this café table and chairs that I borrowed from my mother’s garage. I added lots of plants around them to distract from the view of the Advanced Auto Parts outside.

We like it! What do you think?

perfect rice

I don’t know what it is about rice but my dad always has trouble cooking it. He gave up and just started serving it slightly crunchy a few years back. Understandably, I have a fear of making rice.

Turns out lots of people have trouble learning how to make rice. That’s why Uncle Ben’s makes Boil-in-bag rice – for those that just can’t seem to get it right.

Unfortunately, one staple in Ryan’s limited diet is rice. Lots of rice. That’s fine, I like well prepared rice as much as the next Portuguese girl, but to make it? I dunno. Seemed like Mission Impossible.

raw fish love

SUSHI. Love.

There’s something about this squishy, savory sweet food that just gets me every time.

I’ve been known to dance at first bite.

What would MY food blog be without one of my favorite foods? Absolute dirt. Sushi is wonderful for many reasons but here’s my personal list…

penne alla snooki

Okay. I’ll admit it. Ryan and I are addicted to Jersey Shore. Typically, I’m ashamed. But the day after our housewarming party we were hungry and we hadn’t gone grocery shopping yet.

I found inspiration from Snooki’s memorable attempt at penne alla vodka and used the leftover nip of vodka that was SUPPOSED to go into the apple pie crust, some leftover heavy cream, half a can of leftover tomato sauce, and penne pasta we received as a gift to make PENNE ALLA SNOOKI!

photo courtesy: MTV

hard apple cider pie with cranberries

The first recipe I made from The Boozy Baker was, of course, a pie. After my findings on the pie trend, I was anxious to make my very own pie!

I discovered just how difficult making a pie can be!

boozy baking

the boozy baker book

Desserts and booze??! In July, I was watching the TODAY Show when a feature on Lucy Baker, Author of The Boozy Baker cookbook came on. I’d never heard of Lucy Baker and my first impression was not a strong one – all I thought was, is that really her name?

Come October, I had a strong urge to start baking things…weird things. Finally, I looked up the cookbook. For only $12 and free shipping on Amazon, I decided to treat myself to:

The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets

cedar-wrapped salmon

I’ve learned that sometimes I just have to stick with what is safe (broccoli and rice) in order to try something new (salmon).

About a month ago one of my favorite websites, WOOT, put up a set of 24 cedar wraps for $12. I didn’t know what they were until a quick google search told me these little gems did the same job as those huge cedar planks used for grilling salmon. The difference? I had a 24 pack of thinly sliced wood to grill with, rather than giant slabs of wood to go in an oven (not something I’d trust myself with).

gnocchi

potato gnocchi

photo courtesy: MSN

I’m a sucker for potatoes and cheese so after stumbling upon a package of potato gnocchi at Target I had to make it. It was 4 bucks for “straight from Italy” starchy goodness so I had to try it.

pies

The PREDICTED TOP FOOD TREND: 2011 is

P I E

 

delicious pie

photo courtesy: PieHeaven.net

I’m not surprised, cupcakes and bacon were bound to be out sometime!

It’s a great idea, too. Going along with the trend of going back to homemade dinners and lunches, pies are a hearty way to feed the entire family. Meat pies, spinach pies, apple pies, chicken pot pies. BACON PIES?!

I’m excited because I’ve always been amazed by pies, especially lattice apple pies with the impressive checkerboard crisscrossing over the peek of the sweet filling.

Better Homes and Gardens suggests hosting pie-making parties as a way to destress, socialize, and eat awesome food. Sounds like an awesome idea to me.

 

Ryan will be expecting that bacon pie any day now. 😛