Halloween

 

  

 Halloween was such a fun day. Because it was a week day Adam and I both had to work. My company goes all out with pumpkin carving contests, caramel apples and costume contests which makes it a good place to be on Halloween. The theme this year was the zombie apocalypse so to fit with the theme, I dressed up as a zombie girl scout and handed out cookies. I got up early and my sister and I went to town on my make up making me look as zombie-ish as possible, who knew Elmer's glue and frosted flakes could look so gruesome. I even won a prize for a creepy costume! Adam and I finished off the day by eating waffles and watching a scary movie. It was a great day!

 

 Zombie beauty queen, zombie bride and zombie girl scout.

 

Hope you had a happy Halloween too!!

Autumn Chopped Salad

I have to admit that in my house the salads that accompany our meals are usually a last minute, thrown together, whatever-I-have-in-my-vegetable-drawer concoction. Not a whole lot of though or time is put into salad preparation. But a few weekends ago I decided maybe I could go the extra mile and make a yummy salad to go along side Sunday dinner. Sure glad I did because this salad is beyond good. It was the first thing gone on the dinner table, even before the homemade rolls! There are so many textures and flavors the spicy sweet pecans and salty bacon, the juicy pears and chewy cranberries...it all goes so well together! Make this before pears are out of season!

Autumn Chopped Salad

Ingredients
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce

4 cups baby spring mix lettuce 

3 medium pears, medium diced
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped sugared pecans
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Poppy seed Salad Dressing (I like Brianna's Home Style Dressing)

On a large platter, combine the lettuce, pears, cranberries, pecans, bacon and feta cheese. Drizzle with poppy seed dressing (I would estimate that I use about a 1/2 cup of dressing, use as much as you prefer). Toss the salad gently so you don't smash the pears and serve immediately. (If you don't want to serve it right away hold off on dressing your salad until right before dinner time, and at the last minute toss in freshly diced pears and sugared pecans too.

Quick Sugared Pecans:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups pecan halves
2 tablespoons sugar

For the pecans, melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Stir in the spices and 1 tablespoon of sugar and then the pecans. Toast the nuts, stirring often, until the color deepens slightly and they are lightly toasted, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer the nuts to a bowl and toss with the remaining sugar. Let them cool completely spread out on a sheet pan or large plate before tossing with the salad.

Pumpkin Carving Part 1 and 2

Part 1:

We carved our fair share of pumpkins this year, it's such a fun tradition. We got together with friends to carve and then the next day carved with my family. Our creative juices have been flowing!

The finished pumpkins: I carved the classic Jack-O-Lantern, and Adam went with the grim reaper.
(Don't mind my dead herb garden the pumpkins are perched on)

Part 2:

With my family things usually get a little competitive. No one holds back, and we usually have some pretty amazing pumpkins because of it. This year we went with a Disney theme. Everyone got so serious, we worked away quietly on our pumpkins, occasionally yelling out threats to each other.

 (SIDE NOTE: Yes I realize I have something on my face. No, it's not real. Yes my sisters and I broke out the Halloween make up early to do a trial run before the big day. Yes I'm going to win the company costume contest. Yes I'm using a power tool on my pumpkin. Any other questions?)

 

The finished pumpkins: my pumpkin was polka dotted Minnie Mouse, Adam's was the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean, Sister's was Cinderellas Carriage and other sisters was Totoro.  

The Pumpkin Patch

 This weekend we visited the pumpkin patch. We scoured the field to find the perfect pumpkins, and had plenty of success.   

I love going to the pumpkin patch it's so...festive. The pumpkins, the fields, the company. It was a fun fall outing with my guy.

Culinary School: Week 9

Can I just admit something? This is a safe place, right? I don't really like fish. Maybe it's because I don't live by the ocean and can't get it fresh, maybe it's because of the weird texture, maybe it's because it smells awful. Whatever the reason is it's just not my thing. You can imagine my dismay when I showed up to class on Wednesday and the fishy stench was filling the kitchen. I put on my big girl pants and got my hands dirty (literally). We learned to fillet trout, sole and salmon. For the most part it was as bad as I was anticipating. I went home from class every night smelling like...well fish. I even found scales stuck to my fingers and arms the following days, it was hilarious (but not really). The salmon, in my opinion was definitely the best of all the fish we tried this week. Probably because it is the most familiar to me, I grew up forcing down salmon (haha hi mom :)!)  On a more positive note I cooked salmon en papillote and I didn't hate it! I actually loved it! It was moist and flavorful! The dish is cooked by placing a piece of salmon, lemon slices, a bit of butter and parsley in a piece of parchment paper folded and sealed and cooked (steamed) in the oven for 10 minutes. I had never seen salmon (or any fish for that matter) cooked using that method. It was so simple but so delicious.  In baking this week we had a written midterm, it was not fun. In fact I hated it. I would have rather filleted 20 fish. Unfortunately that wasn't an option. I took the test and won't know what my score is until next week. Question: why is there so much math in cooking? Why? WHY? Anyway enough of the dramatics, after the midterm we made biscotti, lady fingers, butter tea cookies and a few others. The last two weeks working on cookies and quick breads has been really fun. Possibly my favorite part of baking so far. Next week we're onto pies and pate a choux, you could say I'm excited but that might be an understatement. :)

 

Pot Roast

With the winter months looming upon us (seriously there was snow on my car this morning!!) I decided it was high time to share this recipe. Pot roast, in my opinion is the perfect meal for a cold day. It makes you house smell incredible, you get extra heat because you have to leave your oven is on for a long time, and it's total comfort food. I mean please who doesn't have memories of their mothers or grandmothers making a roast for Sunday dinners growing up? I know I do. Comfort food I tell ya. I love me a good pot roast, and this one is so good. A couple of the ingredients are a little different and you may be thinking "Tomato paste?! Mustard?! Really?!" But just trust me when I say it works. The tomato paste gives the meat and gravy a sweetness and the mustard contributes with a mild tangyness, they're the two ingredients that make this pot roast better than the rest. Never one to shy away from fresh herbs I love having fresh rosemary in this dish, it's a perfect accompaniment to the meat. Serve this roast with mashed potatoes and warm rolls and you will have yourself the perfect winter day meal. Give this a try on a cold day, it'll warm you right up! 

 

Pot Roast

Ingredients
 

Beef
4 lbs. boneless chuck roast
Salt
Black pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp red wine vinigar
1 (32 oz) box beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 bay leaves
3 stalks fresh rosemary
8 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2'' pieces
4 stalks celery, cut into 2'' pieces
Gravy
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef stock (reserved from the roast)

For the Beef

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Allow chuck roast to sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Over medium-high heat, add the canola oil to a large pot with lid.
Add the roast to the pot and brown meat, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the roast, rest on a plate and set aside.

Pour about 1/2 cup of stock and a tablespoon of red wine vinigar into the pot and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the brown bits. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and garlic and cook for 5- 7 minutes, until very fragrant and onions are tender. Add the stock and the remaining wine vinigar.
Whisk in tomato paste and Dijon mustard add bay leaves. Place the roast back into the pot, add rosemary stalks, cover pot with lid and place in the oven.Cook for 4 hours.

After 4 hours, remove from oven and add the carrots and celery.
Place the lid back on and cook for 1 more hour in the oven until meat is very tender. Remove the roast and place on a large platter, pick out the bay leaves and the rosemary stocks.With a slotted spoon, remove all the vegetables and place with the roast.

For the Gravy

Ladle 2 cups of the beef stock (from the pot where you cooked the roast) into a measuring cup.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.

Add flour and stir to combine consistancy should be dry and crumbly. Cook for 1 minute while stirring. Slowly add beef stock whisking into pan with the butter and flour. Whisk until completely incorporated and lump free.

Bring to a gentle boil while stirring, reduce heat and cook until slightly thickened. Taste for additonal seasoning, salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon gravy over meat and vegetables before serving.

What I wore: Fall Outing

Dress: Urban Outfitters  Boots: Fergalicious by Fergi Leggings: American Apparel Watch: Fossil

Last weekend Adam was out of town so it was girl time with my mom and sisters. We packed it full of fall festivities. Apples, pumpkins, treats, shopping and the witches festival.