Roasted Asparagus

Confession, until Wednesday night, I had never tried asparagus. Ok, maybe as a child, but I don't remember so it doesn't count. Truthfully, I have issues with most veggies. Something about the greeness or texture I find gross. I'm really trying to get over this so I'm making a huge effort to try all the veggies I claim to hate.
We decided to have steak and potatoes for dinner which would naturally be served with a veggie on the side. Since asparagus was on sale I thought I might as well give it a try and into the cart it went.
Steaming it would have been a really bad idea for me. I can usually swallow a few pieces of something raw but steam it and NO WAY. Roasting seemed like a good choice so I tossed the offending veggies with olive oil, salt, pepper and roasted at 425 deg. Sadly, I actually had to ask my husband to tell me when they were done which I think was about 15 minutes n the oven.
On my plate- a slice of steak, huge potato and a few very scary asparagus stalks. I forked one, told myself I was going to like it and chewed. It wasn't so bad. I didn't oooohhh and awe about the deliciousness I had been missing out on all the years but I didn't gag either so this is progress.
Next up- I'm thinking eggplant, but we'll see.

Anne Burrell's Lasagna

Do you ever have one of those days when you see a recipe you instantly crave it and must make it right away? That's how I felt about this recipe when I saw Anne Burrell make this lasagna on her show. I'm so glad I tried it because it's a great dish and makes lots of leftovers.
I substituted ground turkey for the sausage, no boil noodles, and a jar of marinara sauce from Trader Joes. You can't see from my lovely photography, but there are mushrooms and zuchinni in there as well as all the yummy yummy cheese.

Game Night

Last weekend we had our friends over for dinner and game night. We played Apples to Apples. If you haven't yet tried this game you must go out and buy it right now. Really, it's that fun. So simple to play and easy for any group of people.
The star of our dinner was pulled pork. I'd never made it before but all the websites said it was easy so I headed to the butcher. Can I just say, I'm glad i bought 6 pounds because for 6 people we almost didn't have enough. I put it in my slow cooker at 4:30pm the night before the party and had to get at 1:30 in the morning when it was finished to put it in the fridge. I probably could have planned it better but it was worth it. So So delicious. I used a BBQ sauce I got from Trader Joes and served it with pickles and sliced red onion. I had big buns and mini slider buns as options.

Pasta salad of my own creation. Sun-dried tomatoes, sliced red bell pepper, kalamata olives, chunks of fontina cheese, and parsley with a garlic pepper dressing.

This is Giada's Green Bean & Pecorino dish.

Melons sprinkled with raw sugar and tossed with chopped mint.

Graham Cracker Apple Pie.

It was so much fun that we're doing another game night in a couple weeks. Next up is Catch Phrase. I've never played so I'm excited to try it out. Do you have a favorite game you play with your family and friends?

Chicken with Roasted Lemons, Green Olives and Capers

I have many many lemons. I don't know how I got so many. I think it was because every time I went to the store I couldn't remember how many I had left so I ended up buying more. Now, I have to use them all. Which was the inspiration behind making this dish, Chicken with Roasted Lemons, Green Olives, and Capers. I served it with sauteed spinach and pasta.
It reminded me a little of chicken picatta and honestly, I think I'll stick with chicken picatta. But, it was a good dish and I really liked the olives with the lemon.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-with-Roasted-Lemons-Green-Olives-and-Capers-105556

Dessert Wars Entry- Nutella Smore Cupcakes

Dessert is my favorite part of any meal and no matter when I'm eating I have to end with something sweet. When I heard about the new blog Dessert Wars I was super excited. The first challenge starting in January is to make a dessert with Nutella. I surfed through tons of recipes and then decided I wanted to try and create something original. For this reason, I didn't google Nutella, Smore or Cupcake together. I'm sure someone may have thought of it first but I'm living in my own dessert denial that I was the first to think of it.

The bottom of the cupcake, much like a true campfire smore, is made from graham crackers. Specifically 1 cup of honey graham crackers and 1/4 Cup of melted unsalted butter, combined and then pressed into the bottom of the cupcake liner. I'm sure it would be just as delicious with cinnamon or chocolate graham crackers.
The "cake" part of the cupcake is almost pure Nutella. I wanted the middle to taste like a melted Nutella candy bar. It's a very dense cake. 1 Cup of Nutella mixed with 2 eggs then combine with 3/4 Cup of all purpose flour. Spoon approx 1/4 Cup of batter into each cupcake liner. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.

Then comes the fun part. Cut 6 large marshmallows in half. You'll need to toast the cut side until slightly melted so it sticks to the top of the cupcake and then toast the top of the marshmallow to your desired meltiness. I like my marshmallows really burnt. YUM! I used my creme brulee torch for this but you could always use a kabob stick and your stove.

I served these at a Game Night I hosted last night. Really yummy with the Nutella flavor a prominent part of the cupcake.
I had such fun with this project. Deciding what to create and then learning how to put together the ingredients so they baked well together. My biggest hurdle was the photography. I can't decide if I'm the problem or my camera is the problem; we don't have the best relationship but it's a work in progress. LOL
Would you like to enter Dessert Wars or try one of the awesome Nutella recipes?
Here's the link http://www.dessert-wars.com/2011/01/januarys-theme-go-nuts-using-nutella.html
There are some awesome prizes for the winner of the challenge and here are the sponsors:

-Whisk and cupcake necklace from Moon & Star Designs

-The Smartshopper Electronic Grocery List Organizer

-Beanilla Sampler Pack of Vanilla Beans

-Lenox Personalized Musical Cupcake

-1,000 ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes

-Endless Vanilla and Cinnamon Extract

-Unlimited Layers: A Recipe for Turning Your Passion into Profits

-$50 Gift Certificate to Theme Kitchen

-$50 Coupon Redeemable for Organic Valley Products

-$50 Coupon Redeemable for Organic Prairie Products

Coconut & Pineapple Smoothie

Does anybody watch Brunch at Bobby's? It's Bobby Flay's new show on the cooking channel. I love it. He recently featured a coconut smoothie that looked delicious. Much to my surprise Trader Joe's has coconut water. I made my own variation of his smoothie.
1 Cup lowfat vanilla yogurt.
1 1/2 Cups Coconut Water
1 1/2 Cups frozen pineapple chunks
1 banana.
Blend and enjoy.

On another subject, I tried to make french macaroons last night. I had read that they could be very tricky to get just right and admittedly I went into making them a little too cocky. Cracked or without "feet" or too chewey- ugh so frustrating. I don't know if I'll be able to talk myself into trying again.
Have you ever made a failure recipe?

Mini Bundts Apple Sauce Cake with Candied Ginger

I saw this cake on one of the blogs I follow, Stacey's Snacks and since I had some leftover crystallized ginger in the pantry decided to try it. I'm glad I did. It's delicious. So delicious, that I convinced myself I could call it bread and have it for breakfast the next morning.
Here is the link for the recipe http://www.staceysnacksonline.com/2011/01/applesauce-cake-w-candied-ginger.html