 Do you think it's a problem that I went through 45 pounds of sugar and 28 pounds of butter in just under a week? 😬 So much baking and sooooo much sugar. 😅I've turned my kitchen into a regular cake, cupcake, tart, pie, brownie and cookie factory this week. Being able to bake in two ovens has been a game changer. Now all I need is an assistant who can decorate cookies between the hours of midnight and 6 am so I can get some sleep. 😂 😴 These are just a few of the fun treats that I've had the privilege of working on this week. Christmas, birthdays, graduations - so many things to celebrate in December. On the plus side, there's no need for scented candles in my house when I'm baking dozens of batches of cookies every day. On the down side, stretchy pants are becoming my new norm. 🤣  It's no exaggeration that I've eaten messed up sugar cookies scraps for at least 3 meals this week. 😬 Like, not in addition to a meal or as a dessert at the end of a meal - cookies AS my meal. 😅 Just to be clear - This isn't healthy and I in no way advocate for the consumption of cookies in place of nutritious meals. 🤣 In an attempt to reverse the nutritionally deficient meals that I've been consuming while standing at my kitchen island this week, I'm turning to grilled chicken. This grilled chicken adobo was the perfect recipe for me to make while in the middle of my holiday baking madness. For one thing, it forced me to step outside the walls of my kitchen and spend some time outside at the grill. Secondly, it was way healthier than cookies. Lastly, it was super delicious and this savory chicken was just what I was craving after breathing in the sweet smell of royal icing for 16 hours a day.  Grilled Chicken Adobo Adobo 4 teaspoons garlic powder 2 1/2 teaspoons sazon 2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon oregano Chicken 4 pounds chicken leg quarters 5 Tablespoons white vinegar 5 Tablespoons olive oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 1/2 teaspoon pepper
 Transfer chicken to a platter. Pour juices from pan into a bowl and serve alongside chicken. Now I'm kicking myself for only making enough of this delicious chicken for 1 meal. Why didn't I make extra so I could have some on hand for quick meals for the weekend? Next time. 🤦🏻♀️
Ciao!
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 City of Monroe - you did it again. The 2021 Farm to Table dinner was amazing. Everything from the wine and cocktails to the baklava that we were served for dessert was excellent. No kidding - that baklava was pure buttery, sweet perfection. 🇬🇷
For me, the Greek dessert was the clear winner of the night but I would be remiss if I didn't mention all of the other great food that we sampled. There were pimento cheese barbecue chicken sliders, shrimp and cabbage salad, pork sandwiches and tacos and a pork tenderloin dish.🍤 I can only speak for the non-meat portions of the meals but as far as I was concerned - everything was really tasty. 🤣 I'm not sure what I would title us, but there's got to be name for people like me who don't really eat a lot of pork or beef. 🤷🏻♀️ Out of the 5 local restaurants that served food at Sunday nights dinner, 3 of them served pork. And since pork isn't my favorite thing to eat - I ate the sides instead. I had my first ever coleslaw and pickled onion taco. 🌮😅  I live in Georgia - so it goes without saying that pork will be served at every event. (I'm pretty sure it's state law.) 🍖 And even though I'm not the biggest fan of smoked meats, I can always find other things that I like to eat when I go out to eat in the Peach State. I crave carbs and vegetables so a meal of side dishes is right up my alley. 🥦 I'm no stranger to pork - I actually cook it at home --- for other people. But if I had my choice - I would eat grilled chicken or seafood everyday. I eat so much chicken and seafood that I'm always looking for new ways to prepare and serve it - just to keep it interesting. That baklava from last weekend must have given me all Greek feels because this Grilled Chicken Souvlaki has been on my mind all day. This is such a delicious option for healthy (and super flavorful) grilled chicken dinner. Hope you enjoy - with some baklava for dessert, of course. 😉  Grilled Chicken Souvlaki 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme 3 strips lemon zest, chopped 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano 1/2 teaspoon coriander 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon pepper 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts Tahini Sauce 2 Tablespoons tahini 1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon oregano 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
 Place kebabs onto a grill and cook until 160 degrees. Transfer to a platter.
 Drizzle sauce over kebabs.
This was my first introduction to souvlaki and I've got to say - it was really tasty. A great way to add some flavor and spice to grilled chicken. Ciao!  It's only been a few weeks since we started talking seriously about remodeling our kitchen and can I just say - my brain is already in decision overload. Turns out, the process of remodeling a kitchen forces one to reevaluate every single pot, pan, utensil and ingredient that occupies space in the room. I mean, do I really need to store enough Tupperware containers to pack a weeks worth of food for a small village? When it comes to cabinet space - it's all about priorities, right? What are the most important things to keep in the kitchen and what can I live without? I don't think I can part with my 76 pastry tips but I can probably live without a back up kitchen aid mixer. 😬 So, like any good type A personality would do, I took inventory of every single item in my kitchen cabinets and then I took my mile long list and started to edit. The most important items got space in my new kitchen cabinet design while other things were eliminated from the room altogether. #solongnutribullet I started to play around with new places for things in the kitchen as I thought through the plan for the new space and one of the first things to get re-homed, were the napkins. They weren't eradicated from the room, just moved from a drawer - to a cabinet. I should note that their new location is a mere 24 inches below their previous locale. I will admit that I was reveling in an organizational high over my newly emptied drawer for a full 2 hours - and then bottom fell out. To put it mildly - my family was "shook" over the loss of the "napkin drawer." 🤣 It's fair to say that the new napkin placement has been the cause of serious anxiety, stress and disagreement in our house.  I've got to say that the napkin debacle has me a little concerned about what kind of chaos a total kitchen remodel going to cause. 🤷🏻♀️ Even more of a concern for me though, is the thought of having my kitchen rendered usable for a significant period of time. Flexible isn't a word that I (or anyone in my family) would use to describe me. 😬😅 So, I decided in order to prove to myself that I can operate in a kitchen under construction, I would start to prepare as many meals as I could, out on the grill. I would say that my plan is going well so far but I'm also trying to picture myself cooking in the sweltering temperatures and humidity in the middle of summer. 😧 Thank goodness we have great takeout food available in our little town. A few weeks ago, I adapted this recipe for Chicken Cutlets with Avocado Poblano Sauce to make it grill friendly. I think it worked out really great as a grilled chicken dish AND I can make this again - even without a fully functioning stove in my kitchen.  Chicken Cutlets with Avocado Poblano Sauce 2 poblanos 3 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 4 chicken cutlets 4 Tablespoons olive oil 1 avocado 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 1/4 cup slivered almonds 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 2/3 cup water
 Serve with remaining 1/2 avocado.
I'm enlisting all of your help now. Who's been through a kitchen remodel? What tips do you have for me? What worked? What didn't? Send me your pictures and your advice. I'd love to see it. Ciao!  I'm so grateful that I grew up with a mom who encouraged me to write everything down. Let me clarify - I'm grateful for my mother's persistence, NOW. When I was a kid - I resented the fact that my mom would force me to sit down and write a thank you note for every single birthday and Christmas gift that I ever received. ✍🏻(Sorry about all my grumbling and complaining, mom.) 😬 I eventually found my own motivation for writing. In a word --- LOVE. I met my soul mate when I was 10 and by the time we were 16 - we were exchanging letters of affection across our high school desks. We dated for 5 years before we got married and a lot of that time we were separated because of college, boot camp and military trainings so there were a lot of love letters mailed back and forth. Even during our first 5 years of marriage, there were deployments and forced separations due to moving circumstances (#militarylife) so we resorted to letters as our primary form of communication again. No cell phones, face time, internet or zoom calls - just good old fashioned letters that were sent through the mail. (Gosh, that makes me sound old. ) 😅
Now that I'm an adult, (with a terrible memory) I'm especially thankful for the fact that my mom ingrained in me the importance of writing things down. All of that writing practice has served me well, mom. Who would have guessed that that stubborn girl who begrudgingly wrote letters to her grandparents, would be writing her own blog one day? #thanksmom I don't write nearly as many letters as I used to these days. Sharing my recipes and stories on this blog is my preferred method of expression lately. It's not the same as having 3x5" recipe cards written in my own handwriting but it's far less messy and way easier to organize and keep track of my recipes here. 😆 I hope that you will enjoy this newest recipe for Grilled Flatbread. It's simple and super tasty.  Grilled Flatbread 3 cups bread flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon instant yeast 1 1/4 cups warm water 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
 Flip and cook until golden brown.  Dress this flatbread up with a sprinkle of salt and fresh herbs or just enjoy it plain. I like it warm - with just a sprinkle of parmesan. It's really a perfect compliment to any meal.
Ciao!  My definition of a perfect homemade pizza is a tender, chewy crust topped with a slick of tangy tomato sauce, a heaping helping of cheese and loaded with seasonally fresh produce. Let's be honest, that's not only my definition of a perfect pizza - that's my description of a perfect meal. 😅 I can't think of a more delicious way to enjoy a serving of vegetables. 🍅 October is National Pizza Month. (As if I needed a reason to enjoy this treasured comfort food.) My love of pizza runs deep and it expands far beyond the confines of a solitary month so I'm proposing that 2021 be the YEAR of pizza. 🍕💁🏻♀️ Can we add that to the ballot next month?  Learning to use my Big Green Egg as a pizza oven has been a process. It's been a delicious process but a process none the less. I've had to learn how to set it up, get the temperature to soar beyond 500 degrees and to open the lid without singeing the hair off of my arms or even worse - my eyebrows. 😯 Once I mastered the technique though - I was hooked. Big Green Egg pizza is probably the best homemade pizza that I've ever tasted. When my kids were little, they were pizza minimalists. They liked cheese pizza and only occasionally could they be persuaded to spice it up with a scattering of pepperoni. The mere mention of adding toppings like fresh tomatoes, artichokes, olives or spinach to our pizza would make them wrinkle up their noses like I suggested we add moldy cheese or dirty socks to our pie. Ben is a carnivore and would prefer meat of every variety on his pizza but the topping choice is the prerogative of the pizza baker in this house. 😉 This week, I was the pizza baker and I loaded up my pizza with all my favorites.  Ultimate Veggie Pizza 1 pizza crust 1 cup pizza sauce 2 cups baby spinach 2 shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese ½ cup jarred or canned artichoke, cut into 1” pieces ½ cup fresh red or orange bell pepper, cut into narrow 2″ strips ½ cup red onion, cut into thin wedges ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved lengthwise
 If you have a Big Green Egg that you want to turn into a pizza oven - these are the things that will help you get started.
1. Put the plate setter upside down over the charcoal and set the grate on top. 2. New charcoal will give you the hottest temperatures. 3. Open the lid as slowly as possible. (Burping is not sufficient.) 4. Heat your pizza stone on top of the grate. 5. Sprinkle the stone with cornmeal and build your pizza on the Egg. The rest is just trial and error. Be patient and enjoy the process. It's not always perfect but it's always delicious. Ciao! |
