Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Please support a great cause. This should be more than enough inspiration...

The Birmingham Race for the Cure is Saturday, October 9th at 9am in Linn Park. Please find a local Race for the Cure event in your community and get involved. Today people.

A tribute ...

to all who serve and have served this country on this Memorial Day! Thank you for your service and please come home safely. Especially you, bunches.

Yes, I know. Its been forever since I have posted. There has been A LOT going on lately (including a trip to Hawai'i) and my schedule has dramatically changed over the last month or so. But, I am trying to be better about posting. So...

Here is to the men and women who serve our country on this Memorial Day,

... and to it not being 3 months before my next blog posting.

CEIMB: Marinated Flank Steak with Blue Cheese Sauce

The recipe this week was chosen by Blair of Deliciously Golden. I loved this recipe and will definitely be making it again. Despite flank steak's tendency to be tough, I thought this recipe turned out very tender. The marinade was great and really flavored the meat. Instead of serving the steak on radicchio, I served with a salad. My only complaint is with the blue cheese sauce - I thought it lacked a lot of flavor and I ended up doctoring it up a bit. Next time, I think I will just make the blue cheese dressing that goes with the buffalo blue cheese chicken salad from a couple of months back.

Thanks for a great pick this week Blair!

My new obsession...

Dark chocolate is good for you, right?

Help support Jonah

While I have never met the Williams family, they have an absolutely precious son, Jonah. Jonah is about to celebrate his FIRST birthday and in honor of his birthday, he's auctioning off some pretty good stuff. You see, Jonah was born with a rare skin condition, Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB, and all the proceeds of the auction are going to support DebRA (the Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America). Wow! What a great way to celebrate this little man's very special day and help support a fabulous organization that's trying to find a cure for this horrific disease.

You can check out Jonah's auction site here.

Jonah is only one of many children who is struggling with EB. Sam and Tripp as well as many other families and children are fighting this battle. Will you help them with their fight?

Feeling BLUE

I have desperately wanting to do some shopping lately. Unfortunately, virtual shopping is all that is in the budget for this month. I'm loving these lovely blue (slate) finds! Modcloth - Frilly Madison dress

BB Dakota Tatum Stripe Top

Lirola Designs, Etsy

Alloy Asymmetrical Hoodie

Denim skirt with bow, Patkas - Etsy

And, I just can't resist this LBD!

Tier-Eyed, Shabby Apple

Friday Flowers

Because its so unbelievable rainy and gloomy here today, I figured some colorful flowers would brighten everyone's day.

...and this is a lovely Anemone. I wish I had a green thumb and could grow pretty flowers!

Even though I have no plans, I am so looking forward to the weekend! Anybody have anything exciting planned?

CEIMB: Curried Chicken Salad

The recipe this week was super easy to make -- which you all know makes me very happy! I had this for both lunch and dinner on Tuesday and thought it was great. Lunch was on a bed of mixed greens per the recipe and dinner was a chicken salad sandwich.

I ended up using curry paste instead of curry powder. I have only made a couple of dishes with curry powder and I just did not like the way either turned out. I'm curious to see if anyone else had this dilemma and what they decided to use. I'm guessing the powder would have been a milder flavor than the curry paste???

I liked how the chicken salad turned out though so no regrets! ...and I loved that there was hardly any mayo in this chicken salad!

Thanks to Sarah for a great, easy pick this week! It is definitely a fun, interesting way to jazz up chicken salad!

Wish list Wednesday

What I am wishing for this Wednesday:



* Some art for the new kitchen. I think this print would be fabulous. A tribute to my dear black cats AND my love of cupcakes!

* a Dreamcakes cupcake. stat.


* some yummy tailgating food at a Superbowl party on Sunday


* for the un-hung crown molding sitting in the office to magically cut and hang itself in the kitchen, dining room, master and bathroom!



Is it just me or will this week never end! I am so looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Happy Wednesday y'all!

CEIMB: Emerald Stir Fry with Beef

I have pictures to post from this week's recipe but not with me -- so that will be a separate post. The recipe this week was chosen by Alyssa of Alyssa's Two Bites. I was really excited about this recipe because I love me some stir fry! I thought the combination of vegetables was going to be interesting and very different from the usual onions, carrots, green peppers, and broccoli that I normally put in stir fry. I followed the recipe as written with the only change being the addition of some red pepper flakes and garlic to the beef while cooking and adding some Siracha to the sauce.

However, I hate to say that I was very disappointed with the results of this recipe. I thought overall it was very bland and lacked a lot of the richness stir fry usually has. In fact, I made a container of leftovers to eat for lunch yesterday and they are still sitting in the fridge. I opted for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich over the leftovers. Not a good sign.

I think this recipe has a lot of potential it just needs some major tweaking!

CEIMB: Arugula, carmelized onion, chicken, roasted red pepper and feta pizza

So, I had quite a few additions to the recipe this week. I wanted to make the pizza hearty enough to have for dinner and since I am back to "running" I needed something more than arugula and onions. So, I added grilled chicken, garlic, and roasted red peppers. Plus, I used gyro wheat pita bread for the crust instead of just a wheat tortilla. Oh, and I substituted feta cheese for the goat cheese. Result -- I thought the pizza was fabulous. Although it took a little while to get all of the toppings prepared, the pizza turned out very well. I served the pizza with an arugula and tomato salad dressed with a lemon vinaigrette. So yummy! I will definitely be making this pizza again. Thanks Maria for a great pick this week!

CEIMB: Crab Cakes w/ Tarter Sauce

I was hesitant about making this recipe because I have mixed feelings about crab cakes. Sometimes I love them -- sometimes I hate them. But in the spirit of the holidays I decided to give them a go (since I didn't have the excuse of not being able to find crab meat!)

I thought these crab cakes turned out great! I made the tarter sauce substituting Wickles for the pickles and I left out the capers. If you have never tried Wickles you should order some. They are sweet/ spicy pickles and are delish! Plus, I added a bit of lemon juice and some fresh dill to the tarter sauce. I will definitely be making these crab cakes again. Thanks to Bella Baker for choosing the recipe this week.

On a side note - yesterday was almost the perfect mail day. What, you don't know what a perfect mail day is! Well its a day when you get nothing in the mail other than Christmas cards! See, I am slightly obsessed with Christmas cards. I wish I was creative enough to come up with a cute picture for the Christmas cards. Last year, some people got cards of the cats in their Christmas outfits. However, I was afraid that the cat Christmas card was possibly crossing into crazy cat lady territory. So, this year I went back to holiday themed cards. Anyways, I digress. Yesterday I got 6 Christmas cards and 1 piece of junk mail in the mail. See -- almost the perfect mail day.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Kitchen Picture post (sorry it took so long!)

OK, so I know I promised pictures of my new kitchen forever ago, but I have been impatiently waiting for my cabinet folks (who shall go unnamed) to finish some of the cabinetry. Yes, it took them over three weeks, but who's counting anyways.

So, here are some before pictures (I know, it was hideous!)

Wait for it........

Here is the after. There are still little things that need finished but the big stuff is done! Yay for a "new" kitchen! I also have lots of in process pictures, but those are for another post.

Enjoy!

CEIMB: Maple Mustard Chicken

The recipe this week was chosen by Tessa of Handle The Heat. Instead of using chicken thighs I used whole bone in breasts to keep the chicken moist. Then for serving, I cut the chicken off the bone. I thought the chicken turned out well and flavorful.

However, I violated one of my cooking cardinal rules and bought the chicken at walmart -- something I normally refuse to do. It was late last night and cold and I really didn't have the energy to stop at the grocery store after fighting the ridiculous lines at walmart! And they. were. ridiculous!

Nonetheless, the chicken was pretty good and I will definitely make this recipe again. Thanks for a great pick! (Ignore the messy plate, it was 8:30 and I was ready for dinner!)

Happy Holidays to all. May your family have a safe and happy holiday and a prosperous new year! (Oh, and the cats weren't cooperating for their christmas picture by the tree!)

CEIMB: Stuffed Potato Skins with Avacado Cream

I'm Back! And I have really missed cooking! I know I am a little late on this post but with trying to get the house cleaned up from the kitchen and get the house decorated for Christmas, I haven't had a lot of extra time. ...and I haven't even started wrapping presents! I've got so much to do over the next 2 weeks. I do love this time of year though.

I made these potato skins last night and thought they were really good! They were tasty and not heavy and greasy like normal potato skins. And I really loved the avocado cream. The avocado cream would be a great dip with tortilla chips and other toppings like tomato and cheese!

While these were a little time consuming since I baked the potatoes in the oven, I will definitely be making them again!

Thanks Anne for picking this recipe!

THANKSgiving

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for finally having a working kitchen! My new appliances were delivered this morning -- just in time for turkey day!

When I started the process of renovating my kitchen (pics coming soon), I just didn't realize how hard it would be to live without a kitchen. Fortunately, the old fridge was in the laundry room and I had a cozy little "kitchen" set up in the dining room. Granted this set up consisted of corner of the dining room table (which I tried in vain to keep clear of sawdust) and a microwave/ coffee maker sitting on the floor (don't judge) behind the dining room table. Yep, that's been my kitchen for the last month. If I never eat a frozen dinner again its too soon!

During this whole process I realized how much I appreciate the little things -- like not having to put on shoes to get something out of the fridge, not having to wash dishes in the bathroom sink, brewed (as opposed to instant) coffee, being able to do laundry at home, and coming home to a working kitchen sink and water!

I think my next renovation is a ways down the road!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

CEIMB: Pumpkin Pie Muffins

This was a fabulous "fall" recipe which was very easy to make. Plus, the muffins turned out fabulous (even though I left the pumpkin seeds off the top). I thought the muffins were very "gingerbready." In the future I will definitely add more cloves and nutmeg to bring out the pumpkin pie flavor.

CEIMB - Catch up picture post

So, still crazy at work but here is at least proof that I have been cooking! These were all great recipes that I will definitely be making again.

Chicken BBQ Sandwiches

Mexican Pizza with guacamole

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese

Chicken BBQ and Mexican Pizzas

Hello all. Just a quick update. Work has been so busy that I have not had time to post. I made the Chicken BBQ last week and the Mexican Pizzas this week. I even took pictures that are on my iPhone somewhere! I promise I will post more soon. Hope everyone out there in the food blogging world is well.

These recipes were great! Try them!

Chicken Sate with spicy peanut dipping sauce

The recipe this week was chosen by Cathy of The Tortfeasor. Check out her blog and not only will you see that she may be the wittiest person you will ever meet, like me, you may just believe she is superwoman! You see, Cathy's office is 2 doors down from mine (read, she has a very demanding job and isn't just one of those ladies who lunch (if you know what I mean!)) Cathy also has three of the cutest children ever. Plus, she is a member of at least 12 different blogging groups -- even going so far to make HOMEMADE bread! The closest thing to homemade bread I have ever made is (1) "whop-um" cinnamon rolls (you know the can ones that you have to whop against the counter to open) and (2) pizza dough. Neither of which are remotely close to the tedious knead, rise, punch down, rest, watch, wait 5 hours, rest, wait, rest, bake, etc. process of homemade bread.

So, all of this combined could mean only one thing -- this week's recipe of Chicken Sate with spicy peanut dipping sauce had to be super easy to throw together!! How else would Cathy have time to make it (ignoring the fact that I believe she has figured out how to have about 40 hours in each day!).

I changed up the recipe a little bit - mostly just leaving the coconut milk out of the marinade and I added more soy sauce to the dipping sauce than called for because I thought the sauce was a bit too thick (and peanutty for my taste). Also, I used ground ginger in place of the fresh ginger in both the marinade and the sauce. I marinated the chicken for about 4 hours then grilled on an indoor grill pan. I served the chicken sate with brown rice and some spicy sauteed broccoli.

Overall, I thought this dish was fabulous. It was very flavorful and relatively easy to throw together (despite the daunting list of ingredients). Plus, the sauce was so good with the brown rice.

Thanks Cathy for a great pick! I will definitely be making this again!