Category Archives: Food/Wine

Citrus tequila cocktails

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This weekend we have been in Park City for the annual Spring Grüv Pondskimming event at Canyons Resort. The weather has been unseasonably warm so we soaked up as much vitamin d as possible and imbibed in some cocktails at our favorite spots including Silver on Main Street.

Winter citrus and sunshine had me on a bit of a tequila kick, so when I saw the MMM signature drink, I knew I was in.

MMM via Silver Park City
-blanco tequila (Herradurra is my favorite)
-fresh lime juice
-mint
-ginger beer

Muddle the lime and mint then shake with the tequila. Top with ginger beer over ice.

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Muy deliciouso!

-h

Simple palmier

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Sometimes you just want something sweet but don’t want to bust out the mixer. That is where the palmier cookie comes in to play. Palmiers bring back memories of eating at Spruce at the Waldorf Astoria Park City for me because that is the first time I had heard of this type of cookie. Buttery, flaky, sugary, delicious, perfect.

To make:
-Defrost one sheet of puff pastry and roll out, the thinner the more puff you will get.
-Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
-Starting at one end of the puff pastry roll tightly into the center, then roll from the other side, creating a heart shape.
-Cut about 3/4 inch slices.
-Put on parchment lined cookie sheets leaving plenty of room for puffing.
-Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

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Enjoy!

-h

Super Bowl CrockPot Meatballs Day

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Super Bowl Sunday is one of my favorite days.  Not because I love watching overpaid athletes ruin their bodies but because I love the commercials, beer and most importantly: the food.  This year, I opted out of my usual CrockPot pulled pork, and chose to make some homemade BBQ meatballs!  As usual, I was missing an ingredient here and there from the recipe, and measuring really isn’t my thing, so below is a rough guesstimate of what went in…

Meatballs

  • 2 pounds ground turkey
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/2 cups ketchup
  • 4 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt
  • 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
  • 1 clove minced garlic

Everything for meatballs combined!

Mix ingredients together well.  Create about 1 inch meatballs and bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.

Meatballs in the oven!

BBQ Sauce

  • 1 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 can (small) tomato paste
  • A little more than 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used reduced-sodium)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (I used Frank’s)

Mix the sauce ingredients together and combine with cooked meatballs in CrockPot.  Cook on low for about 4 hours.

Enjoy! Good thing I captured this picture before they were all gone!

xoxo

-s

Perspective

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes positive and negative thoughts become reality. I have grown a lot in 2011, but can see that in 2012 there are changes that I would like to make. I think that everyone goes through phases in their life where they feel like things need to be truly re-evaluated. I’ve never done resolutions, but I’m into goals, so here is what I have planned for 2012.

1. Exercise with conviction. We all have days where we get to the gym and half ass our way through 20 minutes of cardio, while it may be better then doing nothing, it certainly isn’t making the same mental impact as putting your nose to the grind, and pumping out that 20 minutes as a high heart rate. My tool: the New Balance HRT Fit Monitor – it counts calories, your bpm without a dorky chest strap, and supports breast cancer if you get the Komen version.

photo: NewBalance.com

2. Accept where you are and be proud of what you are doing. My former job was fun, lots of hard work, and glamorous at times. I haven’t stopped looking for a new job, however, it is important for me to realize how much of a learning experience my current position can be, and how I can take steps to conjure more responsibility. My tool: local networking events to meet new people in order to feed potential business.

3. Save more, spend less. Easier said then done. I love shopping, eating out, fine wines, and I have an affinity for shoes. R and I have decided to spend some time this year looking at houses to buy which necessitates money saved for not only a mortgage, insurance, utilities and other things, but also furniture. I’ve never owned any piece of furniture larger then our bed so once we make a move, I guess we’ll have to buy a chair or something. My tool: inspiration.

photo: Sarah Richards Design

4. Bake, but with less butter. I love butter, it makes anything taste good. And that is what makes baking with it so easy. For Christmas I received a KitchenAid mixer and by golly I am going to put it to good use, however, I’m going to do so while learning about baking and cooking with less fat, recipes to come.

photo: bloomingdales.com

5. Take social chances. Meet up with old friends, say yes when I don’t feel like it, and have a friendly face. I haven’t lived in this area in 5 plus years, I miss my friends from Utah, but it’s time to step out of the ol’ comfort zone. My tool: the trusty iphone, no excuse to not find someone on Facebook, connect on Twitter, or just make a phone call.

photo: Apple.com

Lets do this 2012 and lets do it big. I’m ready for what you have in store for me.

What are your goals for 2012?

-h

Slow Cookin’ is the Good-Oh Cookin’

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I love cooking, so when my sister bought me my first Crock-Pot last year for my birthday, I was ecstatic.  However, being a slow cooker newbie, I found myself constantly making pulled pork or sweet and sour meatballs.  These classics are of course delicious snacks that everybody loves but I knew there was more possibilities out there.  This year I was gifted a Crock-Pot recipe book that has more than 500 recipes in it!  I went Crock-Pot Crazy.  Lemon and herb chicken, warm Moroccan-style bean dip,  Italian-style pot roast, tarragon carrots in white wine, apple and granola breakfast cobbler and wake-up potato and sausage breakfast casserole, just to name a few.  I don’t usually consider myself a stew person, but some of these recipes look too good to over look, such as the chipotle chicken stew.  Did you know that you can even make cereal snack mix or bread in a Crock-Pot?  Well you can!  Pictures to come, I will keep you updated on the feats and failures of the slow cooker!

 

-s

Local food, local heart, local health…

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We can’t turn a corner these days without hearing about a restaurant that is going local. This is not a new concept, our grandparents were the actual founding fathers of this concept. The hard part is, what does buying local actually mean? For me, it is an obsession with finding new ingredients at the farmer’s market and learning about what they can be used for. It is about planting a very small planter box with some basic easy grow veggies. It is about harvesting every single tomato possible that is ripening on my parent’s bushes and learning what to do with the squash that was supposed to acorn squash and is so obviously not. Last weekend R and I had the privilege of visiting S and hitting up the Bellingham Farmer’s Market.  A market that should not and cannot be reckoned with, the amount of local produce represented is truly amazing. We didn’t buy much, as I had enough local 7.1% alcohol content Chuckanut Brewery Vienna Lager pulsing through my veins, that I also was a force to be reckoned with. But I did snap this pic of mushrooms that emulates the Bellingham market.

photo: hh

Much to my surprise when I got home last night, my dad had a supply of morel mushrooms that his friend gathered nearby.  We crafted the mushrooms into a red sauce that was delicious and good for you.

There is no time like the present to take the opportunity to invest in your local farmers. Whether it is picking produce grown in the US while you’re at the super market or hitting up your nearest farmer’s market, co-op, or fruit stand – commit to learning where and how the things that you are putting in your body are grown.

So I challenge you – buy something adventurous that you have never cooked this week and use it. Have you ever sauteed beets? Put wild mushrooms on your pizza? Added goat cheese to your salad? These are ingredients that I know you can utilize.

Be well.

-h

Lightning Speed Garden Growth

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Summer might be winding down a bit but that doesn’t mean it’s time to close up shop on the gardening.  There is still time to plant a few colder weather vegetables.  I took advantage of some space in my mom’s planters (she has to use planters in the front of the house because one of their dogs loves to munch down some of his favorites including the herbs, and it’s a good way to avoid slugs).  I decided to pick up radish, beet, and arugula seeds.  I planted them last Friday and low and behold, they’ve already sprouted!

photo: hh

Radish sprouts!

photo: hh

Arugula sprouts! With my mom’s thriving basil and a couple of rogue pansies.

Is there anything more exciting then watching something grow? It can be as simple a plant, or as complex as a child, growth is wonderful.

-h

There’s no place like home

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It has been almost a week since I left Park City and moved back to the Pacific Northwest.  People keep asking me why and how the hubby and I came to this decision.  And the majority of it is that, there truly is no place like home.  In the past week, I’ve spent more time with my family and family friends then I have in a very long time.  I already miss Park City, but I know that all of the amazing friends that we made while we were in Utah will visit us, and we will visit them.  We will stay in touch, it’s pretty much mandatory in the digital age.

In the mean time, I’m soaking up all things Washington right now including wine country (this view is from Windy Point Vineyards in the Yakima valley).

photo: hh

Happy hour (we didn’t have those in Utah) – last night it was at Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in Seattle where I got to drink L’Ecole’s 2009 Semillon.  I’ve heard that the spot used to be a bank location, now they use the big circle center staircase as wine storage/display and as the bar location.

photo: hh

And views of the water.

photo: hh

Change is good and there really is no place like home.

-h