3 hours? Really?

Just wondering. Does it take anyone else 3 hours to write up a post? Or is that just my slow ass? Cuz I fell asleep early last night, hadn't blogged about my recipe or edited my photos for two cooking challenges, and then woke back up at one in the AM and had to have the post scheduled to publish at 8 AM the next day. I HAD to blog that night at 1:00 AM. But no biggie, I thought. It shouldn't take too long. 3 hours later, yes at 4:00 AM, my post was finally complete. But I had to wake up for work at 7 AM!! Screwed.

Now today I'm surviving off of few hours of sleep. I feel like I'm back in high school or college, pulling late nights to finish an assignment at the last minute. But not exactly because I do actually like blogging and editing photos.

But why the heck did it take me 3 hours to write up a post, edit several photos, and do all of the necessary requirements for two cooking challenges??? That's the part I just don't get. And I'm shaking my head at myself. I highly doubt that it takes anyone 3 hours to write up a post.  I'm still confused why it took me that long.

I guess it's the perfectionist in me? 

Or maybe it's the sluggish, technology-challenged, old lady in me?

Probably the latter.

So I'm guessing my old, slow, tired butt will be passed out at 7 o'clock tonight!!

Just wanted to share and make you guys feel better about yourselves. Because at least you aren't the slowest blogger in the world. That award goes to me  :)

That is all.

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Caramel Apple Marshmallow Dip {Improv Cooking Challenge} + {Week 4 of The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and Sweets!}

Top of the morning to you! I was recently contacted by Sheryl at Lady Behind the Curtain to participate in a monthly cooking challenge called The Improv Cooking Challenge, where each month we all have to make a dish that features two specific ingredients. I was all over that! 

For October, the first month, we had to make something with Caramel and Apple. That's where all those caramel apple recipes I've bookmarked came in handy, and I finally settled on this version of Caramel Apple Dip. I've seen variations of this simple yet delicious snack slash dessert recipe showing up all over the blogsphere and knew it would be made one fall day with some crisp apples. This was the perfect opportunity.

As you know, I'm also participating in The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and Sweets weekly challenge, hosted by Brenda at Meal Planning Magic. Not gonna lie, it's tough to come up with a recipe to make every week, as well as find the time to make it during the week. So I figured why not kill two birds with one stone? So I'm submitting this Caramel Apple Dip to both linkies. This counts as a holiday "sweet", right? I say yes. Nod with me.

The slight modifications I made to the recipe were that I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, and Hershey's caramel topping not Ghiradelli. We only needed 4 apples total instead of 6-8, (since there is only me and Peej), and used 2 granny smith apples and 2 honeycrisps. Had to use those honeycrisps since they're in season! Her recipe says to use 1/4-1/2 cup caramel, so we used 1/3 cup. We also didn't really measure out the heath bits... we just used as much as it took to completely cover the dip. I'll leave Tina's measurement of 1/2 cup heath bits since we just winged it. Oh yeah, and I added in the word "marshmallow" to the title, because in the future I hope to make a similar caramel apple recipe that doesn't include marshmallow, so I'll probably call that just Caramel Apple Dip, so I'll need to be able to differentiate the two. 

I'm always thinking ahead like that. Ok not always but usually. Ok not usually but sometimes. Ok ok hardly ever.

Caramel Apple Marshmallow Dip

ever so slightly adapted from Mommy's Kitchen

• 8-oz block of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup marshmallow cream
• 1/3 cup Hershey's caramel topping, + more for drizzling
• 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heath toffee bits (or however much you want to cover the dip)
• 2 granny smith apples, sliced
• 2 honeycrisp apples, sliced

Blend cream cheese and marshmallow cream in a medium mixing bowl until creamy. Add 1/3 cup caramel, dark brown sugar, and vanilla and blend until smooth. Transfer to a decorative bowl, or the center of a platter. Drizzle more caramel topping on top and sprinkle generously with toffee bits. If using bowl, place it in the center of a platter and surround with the sliced apples.

Printable Recipe

We couldn't stop eating this! It's a sweet dip, so it was kinda like our dessert before dinner. I'm so glad I've got some leftover for a snack tomorrow at work, too!

Don't worry, PJ already knows about my love affair with caramel  :)

Be sure to check out the Improv Cooking Challenge blog hop below!

And check out some tasty treats at The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and Sweets blog hop below, too!

Peace, and bacon grease!

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Meat 101 Classes at Nick+Stef's

Can you taste the difference between bone-in and boneless steaks? How about wet aged vs dry aged? Or meats from America vs New Zealand? or Argentina?

Well, now you can learn by tasting them back to back during one of Nick+Stef's Meat 101 classes, starting on Thursday October 20 (that's tomorrow).

The classes happen every other Thursday at 7:30PM and will last about 30 minutes. The cost is $35 and attendees will get the meats for that class plus whatever wine/beer/whisky pairing they are doing. Here is the class schedule:
10/20: "Which Rib-Eye to Buy?" Bone-in, Boneless, or Dry-Aged.
11/3: "New York, New York, ... and New York!" Same idea as the rib-eye, but with New York steaks.
11/17: "A Well Aged Steak". Try wet aged vs dry aged rib-eyes, and wet aged vs dry-agged New York steaks.
12/1: "US vs The World". Learn the difference between steaks (and wines) from New Zealand, Argentina, and America.

They held a media preview last week for the third class ("A Well Aged Steak"). Clockwise from the top left is the dry aged rib eye, wet aged rib eye, wet aged New York, and dry aged New York.

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Menu Planning - Week of 10/17/11

Why hello there my sexy peeps! How the heck are ya? How did everyone's weekends go? Mine was plenty fine, though some of my plans got canceled. I was supposed to meet up with my bestie for lunch on Saturday because we haven't seen each other in wayyyy too long! But unfortunately she wasn't feeling well and was also worn out and stressed from the week so we decided to meet up next week, also because we are both broke and get paid next week. Then I was also supposed to go shopping with my mama and help her return some clothes I bought her for her birthday that were too big, but she had a sinus headache and said we'll wait til next weekend. Man, either some sickness is really going around, or people just don't wanna hang out with me! :) But that was ok, because Saturday was Sweetest Day and I wanted to spend time with my sweetest anyway! Thanks, Hallmark, for the made-up holiday :) He worked a couple of hours that day, but we ended up spending most of the day together which was great, because otherwise I was only going to be spending the late evening with him. So I'm actually glad it worked out like it did! Saturday evening, PJ and I did some fine dining at The Palace Restaurant inside the Cincinnatian Hotel downtown on Vine Street. Talk about ultra fancy!!! (And feeling out of place lol). I'll post a review one of these days. Ya know, probably like a year from now. That's how I roll.

Did you like reading that whole book of a paragraph? Hey, I had alot to say! And I'm not done either...

Sunday was also great because PJ and I and his family all went to Keeneland for the horse races! That was my first time there. I originally had plans to hang with my mama on Sunday, but switched around some plans so that I wouldn't miss the horse races. I'm always nagging PJ about how we never go anywhere and he's a homebody so he's content with being home all the time, but we're young and I like to get out sometimes! I wasn't gonna miss this... I had to be able to cross it off of my bucket list. Horse races... check!

And man was it beautiful. Beautiful scenery and trees. The sun was beaming, yet it wasn't scorching hot. It was nice to spend time with family, drinking beers and margaritas (had my first one and I.LOVE!), betting on the races... though PJ and I didn't really bet much except on a couple of races; we spent our money on crap food and alcohol instead. What?

Some of those ladies are dressed to kill, too! I mean, why would you wear heels and a dress meant for a wedding to a horse race, where you have to stand most of the time? I would have been so uncomfortable! I've seen the ladies all dressed up in their dresses and oversized floppy sun hats (on tv), and wondered if I should go buy me a hat to wear to the event and attempt to dress up. But I decided against it when people said it aint the Kentucky Derby! And I'm so glad I didn't because I would have wanted to shoot myself if I had to stand and walk around in heels all day long! But there were still tons of ladies dressed to impress. I would too if I had a boxed seat and didn't have to do much walking.

But we had a blast, and will definitely go back one day when we actually have betting money. Plus we'll come better prepared with some foldable seats and maybe a cooler of beers and snacks for tailgating before time.

Are you guys tired of my weekend wrap-ups yet? I hope not, cuz I love to share them with you. Let's get on to the food already though....

Gotta keep it kinda cheap until Friday, cuz I'm broke as a joke! Especially after Keeneland yesterday and The Palace on Saturday. I never understood those folks who claim that money doesn't buy you happiness. Because I'm pretty sure I can't eat a delicious meal, enjoy some alcoholic beverages, gamble and other fun things without money. Just sayin. How shallow do I sound right now? You still love me though, right?

So yeah, I'm trying to work with items I already have in the pantry or fridge, or recipes that don't require me to buy a lot of ingredients. 

Oh, and can I puh-lease make this danged skillet lasagna already?!? If I don't make it this week I give up!!! lol

Monday 10/17/11:  Skillet Lasagna, with ciabatta bread

Tuesday 10/18/11:  Burritos with refried beans, onions, maybe some chicken and Avocado Dressing, with frozen corn

Wednesday 10/19/11:  Ranch Chicken with frozen veggies

Thursday 10/20/11:   Two-Packet Pork Chops and Ranch-Roasted Potatoes 

Friday 10/21/11:   Sweet Chicky Nuggets (like Chick-Fila) with frozen waffle fries

Saturday 10/22/11:  Chicken Alfredo Biscuit Casserole

Sunday 10/23/11:  Long John Silver copycat fish, and "chips" 

Make it a good one, yall!

Peace, and bacon grease!

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FIG Restaurant Launches Catering Service with Whole Pork

FIG Restaurant at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel recently launched a catering arm (available mostly for events held at the hotel and select off-site events). Just walking into their launch party I already know what I want to have at my wedding (if and when that happens): a whole roasted pig brined in pineapple in chile arbol!

Don't eat pork? For their launch party, FIG also prepared a gigantic whole grilled fish

The meat from the two was used to make tacos with island influence (the pork taco was topped with pineapple and the fish had mango salsa). Stay until the end of the night, though, when they start handing out pieces of the crispy pork skin. Cracklins!

Now, if you'd like a more traditional bites for your event, they can certainly deliver with spoons of quinoa salad, mini lobster rolls, grilled beef skewers with chimichurri sauce, and oh-so-tender braised short ribs.

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October's Secret Recipe Club - Avocado Dressing, and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Here's to another month of The Secret Recipe Club! This is my fourth time participating... my first month I brought you some tasty Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Avocado Bacon Dressing. In August, I opted for a dessert... Chocolate Chip Pecan Blondies. And for September, another dessert, and my first time making Molten Lava Cakes. All fantastic picks!

This month, I was assigned the wonderful blog, Get Healthy with Heather... which I so need to do lol! It was fun perusing over her healthy recipes. I was intrigued by her vegan recipes, and many recipes that called for recipes that I'd never heard of before. I finally decided on two dressing recipes, because I like the idea of making my own dressing and controlling what ingredients are going into it. I chose her Avocado Dressing, and her Balsamic Vinaigrette.

I'm obsessed with avocados, and PJ is too, so we both enjoyed the avocado dressing. I decided to add a dash or two of hot sauce to cut the tartness. It added just a hint of spicy that we both liked. And we were nervous about using raw garlic in the dressing at first, but after a quick google search I felt comfortable knowing that eating pureed raw garlic is perfectly fine  :)  

This avocado dressing works great as an actual salad dressing, as a dip, or a spread on any sandwich or taco/burrito.

Avocado Dressing

slightly adapted from Get Healthy with Heather

• 1 avocado
• 1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of water
• a dash or two of hot sauce

Combine all ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth. 

Printable Recipe

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The balsamic vinaigrette was tasty as well. I could always use more onions though, that's just me. Next time I'd maybe up the red onion amount to, say, two tablespoons instead of one, which I reflected in the recipe below. We also added a pinch or two of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
ever so slightly adapted from Get Healthy with Heather

•  1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2.5 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp red onion, minced
• pinch or two of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bottle. Shake until combined.

Printable Recipe
 

So yay for more dressings to add to the repertoire! And once again, it was so much fun being in The Secret Recipe Club this month, as well as getting to know Heather through her wonderful blog :) Hopefully some of her healthy habits have worn off on me!




Peace, and bacon grease!

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New Chef at Roy's Downtown, and a $20 Giveaway!

Roy's Restaurant in downtown LA recently brought in a new chef. Blaine Villasin is a Hawaiian-born Filipino who started his career as a line cook at Roy's in La Jolla after training at the Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena.

We were invited to try out the new chef's own creations (instead of Chef Roy Yamaguchi's signature dishes) with a tasting menu, which started with a plate of Striped Bass Sashimi, tamari chimichurri, black lava salt

The fish was fresh and I certainly liked the intense flavors from the tamari and the black salt, but the chimichurri might be a little overwhelming for the delicate sashimi. The dish was paired with a glass of Le Colture Fagher Prosecco, Veneto, NV. A nice glass of bubbly to start off the night.

5 Spice Seared Scallop Salad with tangerine, baby mache, kumquat, orange vanilla vinaigrette

The scallops were tender though they could be fresher, and I liked the addition of kumquats here.
This was paired with a semi-sweet wine, a 2009 Pfeffingen Riesling, Pfalz.

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