Butternut Squash Ravioli

Trader Joe's has butternut squash ravioli! This is a recent discovery for me and a very happy one. It's really yummy. I made the traditional brown butter and sage sauce to go with it. I also topped it with toasted walnuts and Parmesan cheese. Not the lightest of meals but it was too delicious for me to care about the calories.

Any recent Trader Joe's discoveries to share?

Yummy Tomatoes & Spaghetti with Olives and Bread Crumbs

Tomatoes are my all-time favorite fruit? vegetable? I'm fortunate to live in California where you can find good tomatoes pretty much all year round. I paired a tomato salad (grape tomatoes, olive oil, shredded fontina cheese, oregano, garlic, salt & pepper) with one of Giada's recipes. I made her Spaghetti with Olives & Bread Crumbs. I was disappointed with the dish. The biggest problem was the texture. Although the flavor was fine, especially since I really like olives.


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/everyday-italian/spaghetti-with-olives-and-bread-crumbs-recipe/index.html

Roast Beef Panini and Sweet Potato Fries

I love my Le Creuset Grill Pan. It makes perfect paninis. My most recent panini is roast beef, fontina cheese and caramelized onions. I used a little too much oil for the onions which upped the grease factor, but other than that it was delicious. Almost like a french dip. Anybody have a recipe for the au jus?
On the side I baked some sweet potato fries from Trader Joes. You can find them in the freezer section. I like to serve the fries with either ketchup or apricot preserves.

What is your favorite panini? I'm in need of some new ideas to use my pan.

Eat Pray Love and Delicious Eats

I finally watched Eat Pray Love. Honestly, the movie could have ended in Italy and I would have been very happy. Once she left all that wonderful food, I was bored. I felt the same way about the book. I really wanted to like it but never finished reading it.
Since I was having a friend over to watch it with me, I wanted to make lots of yummy dishes to eat. I also bought bottle of Moscato wine from Trader Joes. It's a sweet Italian wine and it was delicious. I had never had it before and am bummed I didn't take a photo of the bottle, but this gives me a reason to buy another one.
First up, Giada's Tomato Basil Tartlets. These are so delicious. I could have eaten the whole tray by myself. I didn't have any basil (I always forget something even when it's on the list) so I substituted green onion. Here is a link for the recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/tomato-basil-tartlets-recipe/index.html Next up, Giada's White Bean & Chicken Chili. Really tasty and perfect for a cold night. I left out the swiss chard (I'm not a big fan of greens in my soup) and I used ground turkey instead of chili. Link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/white-bean-and-chicken-chili-recipe/index.html This dessert is my own creation. I had a loaf of Barefoot Contessa's orange pound cake in the freezer so I defrosted it and topped it with vanilla ice cream and raspberries that I had soaked in Moscato wine. Delicious.
It was such a fun night.
Did you see Eat Pray Love? What did you think?
I've been having bad luck with movies lately. I saw The Dilemma the other night and was disappointed. I thought it would be much funnier and I'm such a Vince Vaughn fan. Oh Well.
Is anyone going to see No Strings Attached?

Recipes Every Man Should Know

I've been planning to post this for so long and now I'm finally doing it. I received a book to review called Recipes Every Man Should Know by Susan Russo and Brett Cohen. Susan has a blog that I follow called Food Blogga. Here is a link to her blog. http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-make-killer-bisquick-free.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Foodblogga+%28Food+Blogga%29
The first recipe I decided to try- Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies. I packaged them up for friends and then asked them to let me know what they thought. Their reviews were great and the cookies were deemed delicious. I will definitely be using this recipe again. I'm not going to post it in the hopes that you will buy her book and try the recipes yourself.

Since I missed the Christmas season for this book as a stocking stuffer I think it would be great in an Easter Basket or tucked in with your son's gear as he packs for college. If you buy her book, let me know what you think of the recipes.

Teriyaki Meatballs and Rice Noodles

These meatballs are incredible. I can't believe I made my own teriyaki sauce. When I first tasted it I yelled for my husband to come taste it right away. Could it be that I had made a sauce that was better than the one that comes in the bottle? Yes!
I made these the night before and then the next day for dinner served it over rice noodles with onion, bell pepper and pineapple. I can't wait to make these again. I try not to make red meat more than once every 2 weeks so I'll have to wait a little while but it's worth it.

Here is a link for the recipe
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/01/teriyaki-meatballs.html

Brisket and Blueberries

Sundays are big football days in my house and for our friends. We were invited over to a friend's place for brisket and football last Sunday. I love brisket and this one was delicious. I brought dessert, a blueberry & lemon crostata that I've posted about before. It was a great day, other than the Bears lost, but they are still going to the Playoffs. yay!


Do you have a favorite football team? I'm partial to the Chargers since I'm fairly close to San Diego, but the Bears have my heart.