Cooking Show: Italian Recipes!

We recently filmed another episode of the cooking show.

My friend, Nick, joined me and we prepared a few recipes that showcased our love of Italian food (and drinks)!

(Click on the links to be taken to the recipes.)

We started off with Limoncello Limonata.  We made our own fresh-squeezed lemonade and added 

Limoncello.  

Next, Spinach, Pomegranate & Feta Salad, with a Balsamic Vinaigrette.  I usually make this salad with grilled chicken, but tonight we omitted the chicken because we didn't want the salad to compete with our main dish:

Braciole!

Nick and I both agree that braciole is one of our favorite Italian recipes.  My recipe for braciole doesn't stray too far from old school-- rolled with garlic, parsley and cheese and simmered in a red sauce.

I think there is another show in our future.  Nick has some creative methods of preparing braciole with different fillings and sauces...at some point we are going to film Braciole Part II!

Finally, Cannoli Dip!  

You have to do a teensy bit of advance prep--but once the ricotta has been drained you can whip this up in about 2 minutes.  Break a few ice cream cones and pizzelles into bite-sized pieces and start dipping!

Hummus...make your own!! (Oil-free)

Have you ever gone through a phase where you eat the same meal every day? Not because you have to, because you want to?

I usually get into a breakfast rut habit, usually it's yogurt/berries/granola in the summer and oatmeal/raisins/cinnamon in the winter.

Lately,  it's been veggies & hummus for lunch.

Here's the batch of hummus I made today...my third batch this month.  

Cooking With Kids!

We filmed another episode of the cooking show last week.  With February vacation on the horizon, the producer of the show suggested "Cooking With Kids" as a theme.

My friend, Amy, has four young children and I was happy that she loaned me her two oldest sons to cook with me (Joey, 8, and Danny, who turned 7 last week).  I hope that Joey & Danny had as much fun cooking as I did!

Taking into consideration that school vacations are supposed to be fun, I tried to prepare a few dishes with them that would be fun for them to make as well as fun to eat.   I hope I succeeded.

Amy told me that her boys like fun drinks.  Creamy Hot Chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows fits that bill!

I don't have step-by-step photos for you but click this link for the printable recipe .

Next, we made a chocolate dip which only requires three ingredients--semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter and vanilla yogurt.  They enjoyed this snack with fruit, graham crackers and pretzels for dipping. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm going to guess that the banana slices were their favorite thing to dip in the chocolate, given that the bananas were gone by the time I took this picture!

Here's the link for the Printable Dip Recipe.

Next up was Kettle Corn.  This was totally devoured.  I secretly stashed this tiny little bag of it so that I would have something other than an empty bowl to take a picture of!

And then when I snapped the picture they divvied up the kettle corn pretty quickly.  As we were finishing the show, Danny declared that this was his favorite!  Here's the printable recipe .

Next, we prepared Strawberry/Spinach Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing .  

One of my favorite moments happened when we were making the dressing.  As we were measuring the apple cider vinegar, the pungent smell prompted Joey to cover his nose and proclaim, "That really stinks!!"

Here's the printable recipe for the salad and the dressing.

 And finally, Cashew Chicken.   One of the funniest moments during the taping was when I crushed the garlic into the sauce for this chicken.  Danny exclaimed, "Garlic!  You didn't tell me there was garlic in this!  I don't like garlic!"

Joey saved the day, however, when he decided that the cashew chicken was his favorite out of all the dishes that we prepared.  Here's the printable recipe!

Fall Cooking Show! Beef Stew, Pumpkin Dip, Apple Cider Cocktails, Apple-Pumpkin Dog Treats

We filmed another episode of the cooking show last week!

Our theme was Fall, so I prepared a few recipes heavy on apples & pumpkin.

And I made Beef Stew, which always reminds me of fall because that's when I add it back into my cooking rotation!

Printable Recipe

A nice, warm bowl of stew is perfect for those chilly fall days.

Apple Cider Cocktails with Caramel Vodka

Printable Recipe

Serve them chilled or warm.

Dan the Awesome Camera Man chose the warm cider and declared (in his lovely Irish brogue), "It warms the cockles of my heart!"  

Pumpkin Dip

Printable Recipe

Serve it with graham crackers, gingersnaps, cinnamon pita chips or apple slices for dipping.

And last but not least, Apple-Pumpkin Dog Treats, because dogs also like fall-themed food!

Printable Recipe

Happy Halloween!

Cooking Show: Tailgating, Part II !

We filmed another cooking show last week.  Maureen joined me, and we came up with a few more recipes to add to her tailgating repertoire.  

When we filmed our last tailgating show, we focused on more traditional recipes like chili and wings.

This time around, we focused on recipes that are easy to prepare in advance as well as transport easily.  And since Maureen draws dozens of fans (they may say that they are football fans but I'm betting that they show up week after week because they are even bigger fans of Maureen's cooking), we wanted to prepare foods that can also be made in huge batches to feed a crowd.

(Click on the following titles to be taken to the recipes.)

Sparkling Rose & Limoncello Sangria

We started with this and by the time we finished our cooking we were lucky there was any left to photograph!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I think it took me longer to wash and cut up the celery sticks for dipping than it did to throw the dip together.

Apple, Bacon & Grilled Chicken Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Oh, my, this is one of my favorite salads ever.  It will be perfect for tailgating because Maureen can prep all of the ingredients in advance, pack each ingredient in its own container and let her tailgaters create their own salads.  And douse it with the yummy balsamic vinaigrette.

Apple Crisp with Sea Salt Caramel

We proceeded to top it with vanilla bean ice cream, but for ease of travel Maureen can use whipped cream.

Whether you tailgate or not, I hope you give these recipes a try.  Happy Cooking!

Chunky Guacamole

 I clearly remember a conversation that Mr. Terrific and I had exactly 10 years ago this month, on a beautiful September Saturday, regarding our three kids and their sports schedules.

 At the end of the day, after traveling to five different towns for three soccer games and two hockey games, he dropped onto the couch and I remember saying, "Someday it's not going to be like this, and we are going to wish we could turn back time!"

That someday is here.  Last week was really weird for me.  For the first time in 20 years, I did not have to deal with back to school.

No getting into the early-morning routine, or having to make sure the refrigerator is stocked with favorite lunch foods;  no packing lunches, or keeping track of after-school sports.

I really don't like this new phase.  

A couple of days before my kids left,  I was checking my Facebook newsfeed and a friend of mine posted a status that was something like, "Woo-hoo!  I have an empty nest, who's ready for a girls' night?!!"

As I stared at her status, all I could think of was how do I get myself into that frame of mind?

At the end of the week, my sweet neighbors from 3 houses down brought me this gorgeous bunch of Gerbera daisies to celebrate this new phase.  Thank heavens for beautiful flowers and awesome neighbors.

And thank heavens for friends like Gayle, who called me just as I was putting the finishing touches on this chunky guacamole.  She was the perfect person to share it with.  Gayle won't have her own empty nest until next year, but her oldest daughter had just left to go back to school so we still had plenty to commiserate about!

Puppy-Sitting, and Pumpkin Dip

A lot has happened since my last blogpost.

The Red Sox won the world series!!!

 Here's a picture I took of Clyde and Gus, during the final inning.  They knew I was getting excited.

Clyde was getting excited, too.  He's such a party animal.  Gus was just very concerned.

Here's a picture I took after the final out was made.

Mr. Terrific raised his arm in triumph, quite a display of emotion for him.  Clyde is off partying somewhere.

Gus is still very, very concerned.  It was way past his bedtime and he just wanted to call it a night.

Meet Georgia.  She's an 11-week-old Silky Terrier.  

She belongs to my friend, Maureen.  Maureen needed a puppy-sitter for a short period of time last week, and I volunteered.

Clyde volunteered, too.  Gus happened to be at the groomers that day, so it was up to me and Clyde to entertain Georgia.

I wasn't sure how to go about letting Clyde and Georgia play, so I decided to separate them at first.  I leaned a gate against a doorway, with an opening at one end that was only big enough for Georgia to fit through.  I figured it would be her call whether she wanted to play with the big old behemoth staring at her from the other side of the gate.

Ladies and Gentleman!  On the far side of the gate, at a robust weight of 68 pounds--CLYYYYDE!!!

 And on this side, tipping the scales at THREE WHOLE POUNDS, Georgia!!

And that is how they stayed for a few minutes, Clyde on his side of the gate, watching Georgia as she ran back and forth on her side of the gate, barking up a storm.

Due to laziness, or perhaps because of a desire to make himself smaller and thus less of an imposing figure, Clyde decided to drop his bones to the floor.

I vote that he was just being lazy.

At that point, Georgia quite boldly walked through the gate.

And proceeded to explore the fluffy giant, Clyde.

This is my favorite picture.  Not long after I took this picture, Georgia got a little too friendly and Clyde got spooked and ran away.  I was laughing so hard at my 'fraidy-dog I forgot to take pictures.

But he quickly came back and settled himself down so that their game could continue, with Georgia pouncing and exploring and Clyde barely moving a muscle.  Except for his furiously wagging tail, that is.

Georgia finished off the play date by attacking her squeaky hedgehog toy.

Enough, already!  Here she is, begging me to stop taking pictures.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Are you as obsessed with Buffalo chicken as we are in this house?

This spicy dip is sure to warm you up after your next romp in the snow.

You do spend time romping in the snow, don't you?

(Gratuitous photo of Clyde.  He's getting huge! 14 weeks old and just over 30 pounds.)

Artichoke Dip

Today's recipe, Artichoke Dip, is easy to make and totally yummy. 

The playlist is really short.  It only takes about 5 minutes total from the time you gather your ingredients until you're putting the dip in the oven!