Holiday Food Challenge #1 - complete!

Ok so my first week's Holiday Food Challenge finally got made this weekend. (Sorry for the delay, my week got busy) I must say it didn't turn out as amazing as I had hoped, but that's why I am doing the trial run...to make sure my dish is not only delicious, but knocks the socks off my family at our thanksgiving dinner! 

I think where I went wrong was I may have cooked the sauce a little too much on too high of heat that it became more of a jelly than a liquid sauce. And I think I would need to double the sauce recipe to cover the amount of yams that the recipe calls for. 

Again a learning experience... and glad to get more practice in my new found hobby! So here are some pics of my trial run! At least the yams were a pretty orange that was great to photograph.

Wear to go from here... back the kitchen for Food Challenge #2! Stay tuned!

*Megs 

Holiday Food Challenge #1

One of the best things about the holidays is ALL THE FOOD!!
And we all know how much I love food! But of course family is the best thing... but I'm talking about the food right now. Even though I am not the best cook, I have dreams of someday having people over to my house for a big thanksgiving celebration with my amazing food, pretty dishes and a fancy decorated table! (I must think I am Martha Stewart in this dream.)

I think I definitely need more practice in the kitchen (...and of course a bigger place for said party!) so why not start now! So I am challenging myself to try at least one "fancy holiday" dish a week before thanksgiving so that a) I can practice my cooking skills, b) find an amazing dish that will knock the socks of my family this year's thanksgiving dinner (I was asked to bring rolls & beverages last year), and c) because I always like a challenge! Who wants to come over for dinner??

My first recipe is Candied Sweet Potatoes. One of my favorites, it's like candy for dinner! I found this recipe from Betty Crocker and I am ready to try and report back with my results!
Even the picture is making me hungry just looking at it!

Wear to go from here... the grocery store!

*Megs

My love of all things food

Another nice relaxing weekend in Seattle! The weather turned out to be very sunny and warm (actually felt like summer!!) and there was lots going on around town. It was Seafair, so naturally there is more traffic and way more people out. Instead of heading out on a boat I headed to the Lakecity street fair near my house. Had some fair-food (a total guilty pleasure of mine) and people watched the lovely residents of Lakecity. There was even a group of pirates with there ship to walk in the parade. Not sure how that fits with Seafair, but I wish I could have snapped a picture of them, they were entertaining!! But I did snap iPhone pictures of all the food I ate! Needless to say I was eating good food all weekend long.
Even did a chicken & shrimp BBQ at home that was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

But I think the best food all weekend was Sunday Brunch at Monsoon, a Vietnamese restaurant on Capital Hill. I had the Dungeness Benedict and it was to die for! I totally ate the whole thing!!

Wear to go from here… the GYM!!! (Work off those calories!)

*Megs



Edible Pink Lemonade

Experimenting with my new cupcake cookbook '101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes' (thanks A for the b-day gift!) I decided to try a Pink Lemonade Cupcake. This book is great because it takes boxed cupcakes and adds other ingredients to make them "gourmet". Which is great for me since I can seem to never master baking unless it comes from a box.

Here is the recipe I used...

1 box white cake mix

1/3 cup pink lemonade concentrate

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 eggs

2-3 drops of red food coloring

1 can of cream cheese frosting

**I need a better camera to photograph in my small dark kitchen. Added to my wish list!**

Happy to say, they turned out deliciously and I couldn't be happier!

I even dyed the frosting blue for a Fourth of July party.

Wear to go from here... Baking aisle for a boxed cake mix!

*Megs

P-Town Weekend of Food

This past weekend I headed down to Portland for a bachelorette party for my good friend A and thirteen of our other friends. It was a lot of shopping, parting, girl talk, and of course with this bunch GOOD food is always a must! With the maid of honor J giving us a tour of the city and the best foodie places, we all had a weekend of pure glorious gluttony.

Here are some of the foods I enjoyed... Blue cheese bacon burger, fish tacos, asparagus/pea tortellini and a salmon bagel. But no Portland trip would be complete without a Voodoo Doughnut stop for a bacon maple bar.

*Note*
I didn't get shots of all the food...I inhaled some before I could photograph, so some was pulled from online. Must get better at taking pics!

Wear to go from here... Downtown Portland!

*Megs

Mac and Cheese Please

One of my favorite foods to make is home made mac and cheese. I mean it's basically a food group for me! I got this recipe from a co-worker after having it at her party. It calls for Gruyere and Pecorino Romano cheese along with cheddar... but at the store when I realized the price for those cheeses I opted to make my own experiment with the recipe. And then the "Poor Man's Mac & Cheese was born! I switched out the 'fancy' cheese for just cheddar, mozzarella and pepper jack for a fun kick.

The basic ingredients, freshly grated cheese, bread crumbs and macaroni noodles.

Melt the cheese mix and then pour the melted mix over the noodles.

Add the bread crumbs to the top and some added cheeses then place in the oven for about 30 minutes until the bread is golden brown and all cheese is melted on top.  

The final result is Ah-maze-ing!! Best Mac and Cheese ever, but I might be bias.

Wear to go from here... the dairy section the the grocery store!

*Megs