The Forgotten Chess Board

My hubby got me an Alabaster Chess Board for Christmas. I haven't gotten it yet so I forgot about it until yesterday when my friends boyfriend asked if I played chess.

Isn't it beautiful?

Cupcakes and Frosting

I love to bake.

So I made cupcakes, 8 dozen of them.

But uh, I only have 6 dozen left.

The frosting is Smitten Kitchens Swiss Butter cream, when it was done I beat in cream cheese, and then powdered sugar until it was stiff again.

For the chocolate I added some cocoa and melted chocolate chips.

I love Swiss Buttercream, you should try it. Silky smooth and not overwhelmingly sweet.

MRE'S and HouseHold6 Cooking Club

I joined a cooking club and it's been pretty fun. HouseHold6 issues a challenge at the beginning of the month and we all cook something up, and then blog about it.

So this months challenge was make something that you think would be good in an MRE (Meal ready to Eat) since those things are rarely know for being tasty

So I have been trying to some up with something new for this challenge, some hearty and nutritious new dish. But I just kept going back to Harira.

Not only is it my husbands favorite dish, its full of good stuff.

For protein we have chick peas, lentils, and in the MRE's I would add some cooked chicken. Right after cooking the onions, and before adding everything else, I would saute some diced chicken in with the onions. Then simmer it all together until the lentils and rice are cooked.

It's also made with brown rice, lots of veggies, and of course some great spices.

Spring Pasta Primavera

This is a tasty mix of lots of spring veggies and pasta with a nice creamy, garlicy, cheese sauce on the pasta that is more like a coating, and not at all heavy and saucey like alfredo.

Really any pasta you have on hand will do for this, from rotini to fettucini I just happen to really like the cavatappi in this. Feel free to play around with whatever vegetable you like or have on hand. I just like to make sure that I have at least as many veggies as pasta. If you want to do something a little more formal don't add either the beans or the chicken to the pasta and serve it as a side with a grilled or baked chicken breast on top.

Also Presto Pasta Nights this Friday is being hosted at Maison Cupcake so make sure you head on over and see whatever one else is making.

This makes enough for four servings. Feel free to double it.

8 oz. cavatappi pasta

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp garlic infused macadamia oil
(Olive oil or more butter will also work)

1 carrot, peeled and sliced
3 green onions, sliced, green part too
3/4 c. frozen pea, thawed
1/2 lb asparagus, cut into 1 inch slices
1/4 yellow bell pepper, cut into small dices

1/2 c. half-an-half
1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan
1 chicken bouillon cube

1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed OR
1 - 2 c. cooked shredded chicken


Cook pasta in lightly salted water until al dente. Drain.

Meanwhile heat the butter and macadamia oil in a large skillet. Add the carrots and cook over low heat until mostly softened but still slightly crunchy. Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and saute 30 seconds. Add the asparagus and peas and cook until asparagus is tender.





When the pasta is tender and drained add the bell pepper and then immediately add the pasta. Toss to mix. Stir in the cream and chicken cube. Crush the cube and stir to combine. Stir in the parmesan cheese and stir to combine. Stir until the cheese and cream form a sauce and cling to the pasta.

Stir in the beans or chicken.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

See that? Macadamia oil infused with garlic. Tasty stuff

It looks saucy but it isn't, trust me.

Key Lime Slush

I made Key Lime Pound cake with Key Lime curd for my Valentines party today. I really wanted more of the key lime flavor so I though something I can drink. I didnt want it to be a full on milk shake though.

I would have used all key lime juice if I had enough but after adding all that was left of the bottle I had it still needed a little more citrus flavor.

Make sure you use real key lime juice, regular lime is not the same thing. Though it would still be good, it wouldn't be as good.

2/3 c. Key Lime juice
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 c. lemon juice
10 ice cubes
1 c. water
1 c. vanilla ice cream

Blend all until smooth. Enjoy

Valentines Candy Roses

- 1 bag candy - Hershey kisses and rolos work great
- Red, pink, or purple cellophane
- Stiff wire, not super thin or they will be hard to wrap, clipped coat hangers work great
- Artificial leaves
- Green florist tape

Cut cellophane in 12 (5 inch) squares. Put 1 Hershey kiss and 1 rolo so the flat sides are touching. Place top of the hershey kiss in the middle of the cellophane square and twist around the bottom. Take a wire and put it tight up against the candy, there should be about 1 inch where the wire and the cellophane overlap. Wrap tightly with florist tape, add leaves if you want and continue wrapping with tape until the entire wire is covered.

A couple tips: make sure the squares or cellophane at pretty big and leave a large tail so you really have something to attach to the stem and make sure when you wrap with the florist tape you pull it really tight


This close up picture gives you a better idea what I am talking about and what they are supposed to look like

Though I think I personally would rather have these:

Pina Coladas and Saag

I have gotten hooked on saag. I have a friend that made me some and it was wonderful (Thank you Cheryl for introducing me to this wonderful dish!) Saag is an Indian spiced spinach curry that you can puree and eat with naan, or in my case soft fluffy pitas. But I only had a little spinach so I could only make a half batch, leaving me with a half can of coconut milk.


So I made pina coladas.


It needed more coconut milk though so I still have a half a can of coconut milk leftover. It's just a different half can than I had with the saag.

I'll post pictures as soon as my computer and cell phone figure out how to bluetooth again.

Pina Coladas
1 (20 oz) can pineapple, undrained
1 can coconut milk
20 ice cubes
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1 - 2 Tbsp. agave

Put all in a blender and blend until ice is crushed and drink is mixed throughout.
Since it was 10 in the morning and I don't drink this is (obviously) a virgin pina colada


Saag
Splash Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 - 6 cloves garlic
3 inch piece of ginger
1 1/4 c. water, divided
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1 lb. spinach
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp. vegetable bouillon (I used Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base)

Peel and chop the ginger a bit. Blend the ginger and 1/4 c. water until chopped pretty fine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a pretty large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the ginger water and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Add the spinach, seasonings, remaining water and vegetable soup base. Let that simmer, stirring, until the spinach cooks down and is dark.

Pour into a blender and puree until smooth and, then add the coconut milk and puree until combined. Taste and season with salt to taste.

A family member had cooked turkey over rice and poured this on top. All the while commenting on the radioactive green color.