The menu

Supper tonight:

An all white cheese macaroni
Brussels sprouts, sauted in olive oil with craisins
Strawberry shortcake

Yum.

Adventures in cooking

For my birthday I made myself a grasshopper pie. It was delicious. The recipe includes heavy whipping cream, marshmallow fluff, a little sugar, mint flavoring, and green food coloring. And some butter to hold the Oreo cookie crust together. Pretty simple, really. Also: not really a part of my diet, but I decided for my birthday I could eat whatever I wanted. And since this pie lasted for several days longer than my birthday, for those days too.




Back in December I went to Marche artisan foods in Nashville with my dad for brunch, if you live in Nashville (Tim and Carissa) and haven't been there, you definitely should. They have pretty moderately priced food, with great fresh ingredients, and the menu changes according to the season and what's seasonal. I've loved every meal I've had there. Anyway, that time I got toast with poached eggs in tomato sauce topped with flakes of parmesan. It was fabulous. Especially for this non-egg-loving girl. So I've been craving it ever since, so I decided to try it. It was my first attempt at poached eggs, and they turned out fairly well, I suppose. My version was pretty good, but definitely not as good as Marche's. Still, it was worth a try and it was a change from our regular menu.

Christmas Cookies

Some new recipes I tried this year. Chocolate walnut thumbprint cookies with a cherry center and chocolate drizzle, and chocolate mint cookies. They were both really good.

Pictures from my mom's 60th birthday party.

Back in November we had a joint birthday party for my mom and my sister. They both had milestone birthdays this year - 30 and 60. So on a two day trip to Nashville I spent a day doing whatever my mom wanted. We watched some Christian female comedian on DVD while doing some crafts together - making beaded bookmarks, then met Christa for lunch and did some shopping. That evening we had a special dinner with friends. It was a good time. Here are some highlights...

Our new favorite meal

My mom and Dino went on a vacation this summer and at some restaurant near Glacier National Park, Dino had the most amazing baked potato ever. So of course my mom tried to duplicate it, with fabulous results while I was visiting. So I made my own attempt, and we've been enjoying this ever since.



On the bottom: a baked potato. Then a combination of olive oil and herbs and seasonings of your choice (I use an Italian mix, cumin, fresh garlic, plus garlic salt and black pepper). Topped with sauteed vegetables of my choice: I like broccoli, onion, zucchini, and red pepper. Then on top, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes and feta cheese. It's pretty amazing, and very filling. No side dishes needed.

We had this for lunch today. Fabulous.