my birthday dinner ....

it was my birthday a couple of days ago.

my husband planned the most amazing surprise !

you can read about the whole day over on my simple beauty blog but

i'm just going to cut and paste and share the food bits of the story for you here ...

let's start with ... my neighbors coming over with birthday cocktails

i love having neighbors who are such a bit part of our lives !



when rory gets home, he says

'would you be totally disappointed if i told you i've made a reservation for us at a restaurant ?'

ummmm ... let me think about this for a minute ?!

i still don't have to cook ?

i get to go out ?

yeah ... i'm good !

rory got a phone call just as we were ready to leave, from our friend craig

he said 'we've got a present for bonnie,

would you guys swing by and pick it up on your way to dinner ?'

up until that phone call, i had NO IDEA anything suspicious might be happening

after that ... i wondered if all wasn't as it appeared !

but ... i had NO IDEA of the amazing surprise that lay in wait for me

weeks of planning, international conversations, importing of food

so ... we get to C & J's place to 'pick up the present'

and the house is all decorated

and something smells incredible ... (and very familiar)

and then there were shouts of surprise and the faces of other friends i love

rory hands me an envelope and says

'this is my present to you'

inside the envelope is this menu .........



the foods of my childhood !

and VONGOLE !

(my requested birthday dinner every year since we had lived in Italy !)

now ... this is no easy feat ... because in my little girls mind, the vongole (clams)

HAVE TO BE IN THEIR SHELL

well ... you can't get that here ...

in fact, you can't get clams here at all, unless they are in a can

so Rory IMPORTED them from New Zealand

can you believe that ?!



the food was amazing.

APPARENTLY, they had been cooking all afternoon ... I thought Rory was 'working late' !

Here's the Patatas Alioli and the Champinones Al Ajillo con pan (with bread), of course.



And then came the never ending supply of Gambas Al Ajillo ... OH YUM !!



Master Chefs in action ...



Amazing team work ...



And here's the Traditional Vongole ... with homemade fettucine ...

I'll have to find out what recipe he used for this ... he said it was a Jamie Oliver one.



And the Vongole like my Mom used to make, only with a spicy Casa de Ross twist.

And this recipe too, I'll have to write it down and share it with you ... it's a spicy tomato sauce ...

mmmmmmm !!!



Do you know one thing I loved about this night ?

There were so many things I loved ... but here's just one.

I loved that I was the only known clam lover of the bunch but they still cooked this for me !

And (almost) everyone tried the clams ! Some even liked them !

All of these dishes were new to everyone besides me and Rory, and everyone tried them !

And again ... liked (and even loved) them !

I love the adventurous nature of this group of friends !

And I love that they love to celebrate life.

**

Mom ... Rory insisted that I take this photo for you ....

**

Empty shells !!



Cheesecake.

When we were little, it was tradition in our house that all birthday cakes had to be chocolate.

So ... we have gazillions of birthday pictures of us COVERED IN CHOCOLATE !

BUT, once we were old enough to request our own birthday cake preference ... mine was

ALWAYS cheesecake (with cherries on top) !

My sweet friend Donna recently learned this about me and though she had never made one

before, she baked me the most wonderful birthday cheesecake ! with berries ! oh my !



and Jodie made cupcakes

that I have yet to try

but some came home with us and I will be having one for breakfast !



I was crowned 'birthday queen' and actually wore my 'crown' for a good hour.

Not the mask though ... it was way too hot for that !



Spoiled ? Yeah ... I can't disagree.



I have an amazing, thoughtful, selfless husband,

kind, encouraging and giving children,

enthusiastic, creative and (SNEAKY!!) friends,

an extended family like none other,

friends all over the world (thanks to the Navy and now facebook !) that i love

AND

to top it all off ....



my very own website !!



I cannot wait for you all to see it !

Well ... you can sort of see it here but I've crossed off it's name (which you are going to LOVE)

because I don't want you to go there just yet.

I'll let you know when you can !

Craig and I are going to play with it a bit more first ...

by the way, Craig ... who is a music lover, not a web guru, designed this !

Look out world !

**

All in all ... this has been my best, most favorite birthday ever.

Thanks to everyone who was a part of it !

~ bon ~

Salted Peanut Bars

For the base:
1.5 cups flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg yolks
3 cups miniature marshmallows (this will be added separately)

For the topping:
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 10 0z bag peanut butter chips, (about 1 2/3 cups)
2 cups rice krispy cereal
2 cups salted peanuts

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees F.
Beat all base ingredients with an electric mixer except for the marshmallows, on low speed until crumbly. Press the mixture firmly into a 9x13 inch pan.

2. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light brown.
Immediately sprinkle marshmallows on top of the base and bake for 1 or 2 more minutes, just long enough for the marshmallows to puff up. Remove from oven and let cool while you mix up the peanut topping.

3. In a saucepan mix all topping ingredients except for the cereal and peanuts. Stir constantly over low heat until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in cereal and peanuts. Immediately spoon the warm topping over the marshmallows and spread to cover. Refrigerate until firm, at least an hour.
Cut into bars and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

This makes a lot of bars! I made them a week ago and we are still eating them! Yum!

menu plan monday // Khrista 04.04.11

Getting back on track...this last week we ate out WAY to much because I didn't have a 'plan'!
Time to get back to planning!
This time I am doing TWO WEEKS at a time.
Being recently inspired by Bonnie planning a MONTH at a time! Maybe I will get there one day! ;)
Here's our plan for the next week.
(Even though I planned two weeks, I will still post weekly.)

Click images for recipes

MONDAY

Sweet Corn & Potato Chowder

TUESDAY

Lemon Spaghetti

WEDNESDAY

Asparagus Hash

THURSDAY

Mexican-Style Lasagna

FRIDAY 

Homemade Pizza - making my fave Funky Lime

SATURDAY

 Chipotle (it's now become a family tradition to eat here every Saturday. We've become "regulars" and the employees even know what we're going to order! It's a nice "treat.")

SUNDAY

Sister Blue Wrap Sandwiches

::::::::

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Pizza Poppers

I saw this recipe and had to immediately try it !

pizza dough ... your favorite kind will do.
16 bite size pieces of mozarella
sliced pepperoni, olives, mushrooms .... whatever you want to go on the inside !
2 tsp italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, and garlic)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400C/200F

Super easy ... I rolled out a small ball of pizza dough. Cut into 16 pieces. Put a piece of cheese and a bit of something else (i did all pepperoni last night) into one piece. Fold over and place 'seam' side down in a oiled pie dish. Repeat. Mix oil and herbs. Pour on top of pizza poppers. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden. Watch them though ... the cheese explodes if you leave them in too long.

Serve with marinara or ranch ....

Clementine and Ginger Cake

 







       For the Cake

• 1 Yellow Cake mix 
• 1 teaspoon Clementine Zest
• Juice of one Clementine
• 1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger, grated

    Mix cake according to box directions. Add in Clementine juice,  zest and fresh ginger. 

    Bake according to box directions for two  8 in rounds.  (350 for 30 minutes) While cake is baking   make syrup.

           For the Syrup

•     150 ml of water (just short of 3/4 cup)
•     150g castor sugar (I just used regular sugar) (2/3 cup)
•     Piece of fresh ginger, about the size of your thumb, sliced
•     Zest and juice from 1 Clementine
  

       In small sauce pan bring water, sugar, ginger and clementine to boil. Stir until thickened, around  ten minutes. Strain out chunks of ginger and clementine. Pour into bowl and allow to cool.

 Remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in pans. Poke holes in cakes with tooth pick. 

 Pour syrup over cakes. Let set 10 minutes. Then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

   While the cakes cool, whip up the frosting

For the Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature.
• 8 Tablespoons butter, room temperature.
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Zest of 1 clementine
• Juice of 1 Clementine.
• Flesh of one Clementine, pulled a part.
• 2 cups powdered sugar 

Beat cream cheese, add butter beat again. Add vanilla, zest, juice and beat again! Add powdered sugar and beat again...once all incorporated add pieces of clementine, beat once more. 

Add more juice or powdered sugar to get consistency you desire.

Once cakes have cooled, cut horizontally. 

Frost each layer and sides.

Sprinkle a bit of zest on top for color. 

Allow to set up in fridge.

Bonnie's Menu ... 1 - 10 April 2011

I posted this on facebook this morning ...

The Beans Blog
i'm getting ready to plan a ONE MONTH menu. with my crazy busy schedule it 's hard to stay on top of weekly planning sessions. so, i'm going to try doing a one month menu ... my issue has always been the fresh fruit/veg but with online shopping ... and being able to shop today and not have it delivered until a week, two weeks and three weeks from now, I think it's going to finally work for me !!

Here we go ! I'm still going to post only weekly menu's but I'm going to write the posts now and schedule them to post automatically in a week ... two weeks ... three weeks. Sheesh ... ain't technology amazing ? I could probably do them all in one post but I refer to my menu plans when I'm at work to see what we're having that night or the next and to make sure that I don't need to stop at the store on the way home (sometime I forget to get stuff or it gets used for something else ....) and it's just easier to have them posted each week than to have to go searching !!

Tonight
Rory has requested pizza.
We're going to have funky lime,
this roasted garlic chicken pesto one that I want to try
and these pizza bites that look fun !

Alia and I are making these gooey chocolate coconut bars today.

Sunday
I love macaroni and cheese and I love my crock pot.
This recipe looks like something I need to try
as it combines those two loves !!
Crock Pot Mac & Cheese
Steamed Broccoli

Monday
Oh wow ... I've found some great looking recipes this week !
Parmigiano Panko Herb Encrusted Chicken Breasts ? Yes Please !!
With Pesto Baked Potatoes ? Um ... don't need to say that twice !!

Tuesday
Spaghetti Bolognaise
I cooked a huge batch last week and froze three meals worth !
with Black Olive Salad

Wednesday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
Rory is cooking ...
I am deciding what we are eating ...
I'm going with The Lumberjack.

Thursday
Burrito Bowls
These were great the other night.
I forgot to take a photo.
I'll take one this time
and post a 'recipe'.

Friday
Greek Lamb with Spinach and Orzo
(my favorite crock pot recipe!)

Saturday
I'm going to try this pastry wrapped chicken
I'm going to do the avocado fennel salad she suggests with it.

Sunday
I think that we will probably have some leftovers by Sunday night
so I'm not going to plan anything for dinner tonight ....

**

phew ... one week down, three to go ...

Orange Cranberry Muffins

I have a really good muffin recipe that I originally got from the "Joy of Cooking" cookbook. Today I modified it to make these delicious muffins. I have two different zesters and I used both today. One makes ribbons of zest that don't put off as much flavor but are very pretty in a recipe. The other more traditional one scratches the surface of the orange and you get tiny bits of orange peel that is quite wet. Almost like a paste.

(Dry ingredients)

2 c. flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Zest ribbons from one orange

(Wet ingredients)

2 large eggs

1 c. vanilla yogurt

2/3 c. sugar

4 tbs butter

1 tsp vanilla

Traditional zest from one orange

2/3 c. dried cranberries

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients. Then mix the two together in one of the bowls and throw the cranberries in as well. I know you've heard this before but DO NOT overmix it. It's more like folding the ingredients together. Just until combined. Scoop into a muffin pan with liners sprayed with cooking spray. the recipe makes a dozen muffins. Heap the batter in!

Bake at 400 degrees for about 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool a couple minutes before taking them out of the pan. They are best hot.

If you have as many oranges as I do, serve them with freshly squeezed orange juice.

If you would like to make a different flavor, omit the orange zest and cranberries and add whatever you like.

Homemade Meatballs

These are our family's favorite meatballs. The recipe makes a lot but since ground beef isn't too expensive, they are still a pretty cheap meal. It's a good one to have in your repertoire if you often entertain large groups of teenagers... as we do. Or if your family will one day contain a large group of teenage boys...

3 lb ground beef

1 (12 oz/350ml) can evaporated milk

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup crumbled crackers

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp chili powder

Mix in a large bowl.

Form into meatballs. I use my cookie scooop. I take a heaping scoop and form the meatballs inside the scoop. (Sorry for using the word scoop so many times, I couldn't think of another word to use.)

Put them in a single layer to maintain their shape. If you want to do this step ahead you can put the meatballs on a lined cookie sheet in the fridge until you're ready to finish them.

Then brown the meatballs in a skillet. The longer you brown them in the skillet, the less you have to worry about them being all the way cooked in the oven. Transfer meatballs from the skillet to a glass 13x9 inch pan. Depending on the size of the meatballs, it might not all fit in one pan. I usually end up with a 13x9 and a 8x8 inch pan.

After you've browned the meatballs, make the sauce.

In a sauce pan, bring to a boil:

2 cups ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup chopped onions.

Pour over the meatballs.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

My Menu - Bonnie - 29 March 2011

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

***

Only planning a short menu this week ! Will plan again Friday ...

AND ... it's mainly going to be meals with ground beef. You see, I bought 2kg of ground beef for hamburgers (for a large group!) the other night ... but then forgot to take the meat out of the freezer so had to buy more. I have all that beef in the freezer and am going to use it this week !

Tuesday
Burrito Bowl

Wednesday
BBQ Meatballs
with mashed potatoes

Thursday
Spagh Bol (crock pot)

Friday
Baked Potato Soup (crock pot)

**

PS ... if you are friends with the beans blog on facebook, you would have seen the photo of homemade ravioli .... YUM ! that recipe (among others) coming SOOOON ! it's been a busy few weeks for me so haven't been posting much. hopefully things are slowing down now ....

... if you're NOT friends with the beans blog on facebook, what are you waiting for ??

Easy Peasy Quiche

Years ago, a friend of mine gave me this recipe. It's such a good recipe because you can pretty much throw anything in it !

Mix together:
3 eggs
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 & 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup filling (whatever you like)

Throw it all in a quiche dish and bake in the oven. I did mine on 180 and I think it took about 30 minutes but play with it. Next time I make one, I'll make note of how long it took ...

The one pictured here was really nice.

I cooked up a bit of bacon, onion and garlic. Once that was cooked, I threw in some white wine. I didn't measure, just poured it in. Maybe 1/4 of a cup ? I reduced that til there was no liquid left. Chopped up a handful of mushrooms and threw them in. I also had some leftover chicken so I chopped that up and threw it in. I had a little square of cream cheese that needed to be used. I melted that in with the bacon once it was cooked. I added a bit of salt and pepper too. I thought about adding some fresh herbs but in the end I didn't. Maybe it was raining and I didn't feel like going out to the garden ?

Anyway ... this is a great dish to get creative with. You really can't stuff it up ! Just make sure you don't add too much extra liquid !

My Menu - Bonnie - 21 March 2011

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

I'm excited about this week. Not because of the food ... although, we are having some of my favorite meals, but because my brother in law, Ryan is coming to stay with us for a week !! I cannot wait to see him !!

Here's what we're having ... just looking at it, I realized, the first half of the week is chicken ! Ha. But ... they are all pretty different meals so I think we'll survive ! :)

Monday
Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Tuesday
Funky Lime Pizza
Buffalo Boneless Chicken Pizza

Wednesday
BBQ Chicken Chimichangas
with Guac

Thursday
Probably going out ....

Friday
Burgers of the Cheese and Burger Society !!

Saturday
Most likely Fish and Chips on the beach ...

Sunday
Sunday is a huge day for us so I'm going to wait til closer to plan that dinner ...

menu plan monday // Khrista 03.14.11

It's still Monday here for about 30 more minutes. Always the procrastinator. Please excuse any typos,  and I'll try to get back with some links!
Goodnight! :)

::::::::

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Jodie's Sushi Rice and Jono's Favorite Roll

if you're wondering why i haven't posted a menu this week, it's because i haven't made one. oh how i despise not having a menu ! but, we're pretty much just trying to eat out of the fridge/freezer/pantry this week. we're doing pretty well, if we are an ingredient or two short, i just run out and get them. so far, we're still UNDER BUDGET !! hoooray !!

the other night we did very simple sushi. the only ingredients we did were cucumber, avocado, cream cheese and tamago. i had run out of sushi rice vinegar so i tried my friend jodie's recipe for making your own ! it was great. i'll never buy sushi rice vinegar again ...

here's how you make it ...
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 TBLS sugar
1.5 tsp salt

mix in a bowl, zap in the microwave to help the sugar dissolve. i probably took it out and stirred it two or three times over a minute's zap ...

and that's it. use how much you need and save the rest for next time ...

as for this fancy inside out roll. my boy reckons this is the best way to eat sushi. he's always disappointed when we go to a sushi restaurant that doesn't have these. so ... i tried my hand at it and he said it was better than the one he gets at the sushi shop ! how's that for a compliment ?! it really was quite easy. Just roll the sushi mat with glad wrap (plastic wrap) before you start, otherwise you'll be picking rice out of your mat for years to come !

Do your rice as you normally would, sprinkle with sesame seeds and then turn it over. Add your ingredients as you normally would, only you're doing it on the seaweed, not the rice. I did cucumber, avocado and cream cheese for jono. Roll as per usual. Cutting is a bit tricky but if you have a sharp knife, you'll be fine.

That's it ! Easy and yum !!

Changas in the Weber !

So ... our oven broke the other night.
We discovered it when we went to put these in it !

We needed a plan B.
We decided to try them in the Weber BBQ!

We are so glad we did !
They were amazing. It added a smokiness to them.

We will do them this way from now on !

What you need:
1 and 1/2 cups cooked and thinly diced chicken ( about 2 breasts )
1 jar salsa, I use a medium
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 chopped green onions (spring onions)
I also mix in leftover cilantro (coriander) from making guacamole !
12 eight inch flour tortillas
2 TBLS melted butter, or olive oil
--

Mix salsa, cumin, oregano, chicken, cheese and onions. Place about 1/4 cup chicken mixture in centre of each tortilla. Roll. Brush very liberally with melted butter, or olive oil. Bake at 400F degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. (watch them the first time you make them ... mine don't ever take that long to cook) OR cook in a hooded BBQ ... about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with additional cheese. Serve with salsa (I don't add more salsa to mine but my husband likes hot salsa so he puts that on here ...), sour cream and guacamole.

Bonnie's Carbonara Pizza

(photo taken on my iPhone)

Ok ... so this was super easy to make ! AND so delicious !

One pizza base ... I used Craig's dough recipe ... I still need to post that for you. Soon. I'd do it now but I'm going to have to do it as a video post because it's a show you, not tell you kind of recipe ...

2 red onions, caramelized
1 head of garlic, roasted (cut off top of cloves, wrap in tin foil and put in preheated 200C oven while onions caramelize) (here's a good recipe to show you how to roast garlic ...)
A couple of rashers of bacon, chopped
A bit of cream ... maybe 1/2 of a cup ?

So ... in my big electric fry pan, I caramelized the onions then pushed them to one side and cooked the bacon in the same pan. When the bacon is cooked, add the cream and stir the lot together. Get the garlic that has been roasting out of the oven, squeeze cloves into bacon/onion mixture. Stir. I chopped up the garlic a bit with my spatula so it mixed real well. Spread this mixture onto the pizza base. Grate fresh Parmesan cheese on top. Put into still-hot -from-the- garlic oven for about 15 minutes or til dough is cooked.

That's it.

So yum !

PS ... I think I might add some rosemary next time ...