Hello everyone! I went shopping a couple of times this month because I had gift cards from last Christmas and there were lots of good deals this month. I do not post these hauls to brag (not at all) but personally it’s just fun for me to look back and see what I’ve been buying. I’ve got some nasty comments from “anonymous” people before and I just laughed at them because seriously “NOBODY’s got time for that”. Anyways, I went to Homegoods and Marshalls, The bodyshop and for the first time I shopped online at HSN (the hubs and I watched it one time and really loved the product).
Homegoods: I got workout pants,PJ sets,notebooks,makeups,candle,philosophy stuffthe Philosophy stuff I gotYankee candles from HomegoodsHome goods! I got a Kate Spade mug (she partnered with Lenox in this mug)The body shopBath and Body works: Hurricane Candles (my hubs is not a big fan of the candle holders) hehe! (they we’re on 75% sale)what I got from HSN! Simply Ming pansNy new cookbooks from the thrift store!
Here’s my candles empties for this month:
Candle empties
I enjoyed the Colonial candle and the lavender vanilla (bath and body works);the rest were OK. I was disappointed with the Vanilla bean noel because the throw was not there, I can’t smell it unless the candles right in my face!
This is Pioneer Woman’s (Ree Drummond) French Onion soup recipe. I saw her make this on her Food Network show and checked it on her website too. My husband loves this soup. I’ve made this before and it’s a really simple, cheap kind of soup. I had everything in my pantry too (even the gruyere cheese). Her recipe called for the oven, but again this time I used my crockpot and it turned out good. I still have leftovers and we plan to finish it this week.
simmering in the crockpot for a couple of hours now!with toasted Baguettetop with gruyere cheesecheesy and bubble!makes me happy that Hubs enjoyed my dishes!
Ingredients
1 stick Butter
4 whole Large (or 6 Medium) Yellow Onions, Halved Root To Tip, And Sliced Thin
Melt butter in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Place soup pot into the oven with the lid slightly ajar to ensure the onions will brown. Allow onions to cook in the oven for 1 hour, stirring at least once during the cooking process so onions won’t stick and burn.
Remove pot from oven and place back on stovetop over medium heat. Stir, scraping off all the brown, flavorful bits. Turn off heat and pour in wine. Turn heat back to medium. Cook wine for five minutes, allowing it to reduce. Add broths, Worcestershire Sauce and minced garlic and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 to 45 minutes.
Butter one side of the bread slices and broil over low heat, allowing bread to brown and become crispy.
When soup is ready, ladle into bowl or ramekin. Place crispy bread on top, and then sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Hello family and friends! Happy weekend! Just relaxing here at home and currently watching 3 shows (Miss Universe 2015/Pro-Bowl/NBA). I wanted to post another recipe (Rachael Ray again!) because I really enjoyed this Short ribs dish. Short ribs are one of my favorite meat cuts (if it’s on a restaurant menu, I will most likely order it). I found this recipe on Rachael’s website. I did tweak it a bit because her original recipe called for Rigatoni pasta (my Hubs is not a big fan of this kind of pasta,so I used mashed potatoes to go with the ribs). It’s just a comfort food. And instead of cooking this in the oven (like her original recipe called for) I used my crockpot and it still turned out delicious.
comfort food! so tender and full of flavor! I made this early this month thus still my Christmas placemat!
Short Ribs in Red Sauce with Rigatoni (but I used mashed potato for us;I will just use the original recipe by Rachael Ray)
Ingredients
8-10 bone-in beef short ribs, trimmed of fat
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 carrots, finely diced
2 ribs celery, finely diced
1 large onion, finely diced
4 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 large fresh bay leaves
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cups dry red or white wine or 2 additional cups beef stock
3 cups beef stock
1 can Italian San Marzano tomatoes (32 ounces)
1 herb bundle of sage, parsley and thyme
1-1 1/2 pounds rigatoni, regular or whole wheat
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese, divided
Finely chopped flat leaf parsley, for garnish
Preparation
Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
Heat the EVOO in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown all over in batches. Remove the meat to a plate and add the vegetables, garlic and bay leaves to the pot; season with salt and pepper. Cook to soften, 5-6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute, then add the wine. Reduce by half, then add the stock and tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes and slide the meat back in along with the herb bundle. Cover and transfer to the oven; cook to tender, 2 1/2 hours.
Remove the meat and discard the herb bundle. Cover and keep warm; simmer the sauce to thicken while you cook the rigatoni.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Season the water with salt and cook the rigatoni to al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with butter and half to two-thirds of the sauce. Serve the pasta topped with the meat on or off the bone. Pass extra sauce at the table with the remaining cheese.
Hello family and friends! I hope you’re all are having a great day. I wanted to share this recipe (a Rachael Ray) from her Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. I’m not a big fan of her (she’s too “exag” as a host and find her annoying sometimes) but every now and then I still watch some of her reruns on the food network. I do subscribe to her magazine because I enjoy the food pictures and it’s easy to follow her recipes. This pasta recipe was delicious and will probably make this again sometime (we do eat this kind of food in moderation because of the high cals). Her original recipe called for fusilli pasta. I have fusilli in my pantry but I prefer spaghetti, so that’s what I used instead. I also added some shiitake mushrooms because they’re my fave kind of mushroom. If you like pasta dishes,you should try this one (simple and tasty!).
I love shiitake mushroom( I used 3 kinds of mushrooms)Parmesan galore!YUM!
Creamy Mushroom Pasta (recipe:Rachael Ray)
Ingredients (serves:4)
1 lb. fusilli 1 onion,chopped
3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil 2 cloves garlic,chopped
1/4 cup panko 3/4 cup heavy cream
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage 2 tbsp. white wine
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add the fusilli;cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet,heat 1 tsp.oil over medium-high. Add the panko and toast,stirring, until golden, 3 minutes; transfer to a plate.
3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high. Add the mushrooms and sage. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until browned, 5 minutes. Transfer to another plate. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook the onion and garlic in the remaining 1 tbsp oil, stirring, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes;season.
4. Add the mushrooms,fusilli,reserved pasta cooking water,cream,parmesan and wine to the large skillet. Cook over medium, stirring often, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes;season. Divide among the plates;top with the panko.
During the Holiday season a couple of weeks ago, the Hubs and I went to Cascina Spinasse because we’ve been wanting to try it for a long time and we had a gift card from my In laws from 2 years ago. The restaurant has lots of good reviews and it was even featured in one of Food Network’s shows and The Cooking channel, where one the chefs was saying “it’s a must” if you visit Seattle. I was excited and looking forward to try their famous “Tajarin al Ragu o Burro e Salvia(egg pasta with ragu or sage and butter).
The place was cozy and intimate, we liked their food but it was too pricey from what we got. The quality of their pasta was superb (they make it fresh) but their famous Tajarin pasta sadly for us was a big disappointment! I know we are probably in the minority but the Hubs and I were pretty disappointed because for us it tasted like pasta and melted butter,so bland! I know it’s says pasta and butter(on the menu) but not even a hint of salt and the sage was too subtle. We wanted to ask the server if they forgot to “flavor” our dish! I guess that was it. My poor Hubs was “forced” to finish it because I wouldn’t touch it after. Good thing the rest of our food was YUM! We will probably not go back to Spinasse just because we think it’s too pricey though the pasta was great, it’s just not worth it for us.
Cozy restaurantFresh pasta everydaysoup for the day! Parsnip soup with balsamic reductionwe ordered their “Antipasto Misto Della Casa”; selection of their house anti pastipart of their House antipasti
Tajarin al Ragu o Burro e Salvia Fine hand cut egg pasta with ragu or butter and sage.
Hello Friends! Hope you’re having a good weekend, we just saw the Seahawks beat the Panthers in NFC playoffs game minutes ago. So Seattle is pretty happy right now! Anyways, I wanted to share the Cornish Game recipe I used for our NYE dinner because it was really tasty and so simple. I will definitely put this in my recipe binder for future use. I cut the recipe in half because it was just me and the Hubs.
Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary (allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
4 Cornish Game Hens
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon,quartered
4 springs fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil
24 cloves garlic
1/3 cup white wine
1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
4 fresh spring rosemary for garnish
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Rub hens with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Lightly season hens with salt and pepper. Place 1 lemon wedge and 1 sprig rosemary in cavity of each hen. Arrange in a large, heavy roasting pan, and arrange garlic cloves around hens. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil; pour over hens. Continue roasting about 25 minutes longer, or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear. Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes.
Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. Tent hens with aluminum foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices and garlic cloves to a medium saucepan and boil until liquids reduce to a sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise and arrange on plates. Spoon sauce and garlic around hens. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, and serve.
Hello family and friends! Hope your weekend was fun and relaxing. On our side, my husband is still recovering from the nasty flu/cold he had after Christmas. It was spent napping (for my hubs) and taking down the Christmas decorations (for me). I still have some decorations left but the majority, like the Christmas tree, are done and stored already. We were also able to order our Christmas tree for next year (it was on sale but I still find it pricey:-0). We didn’t go out this weekend because I cooked our meals at home, but we did get some things from the Asian market in Seattle. I wanted to get a Filipino delicacy called, “binignit”. I’m not sure what they call it here in the U.S but it has the consistency of pudding, with lots of tapioca, bananas, and yams. I’ve tried it in other Asian/Filipino stores here in Washington, but Foulee Asian market in Seattle is the only place I go now if I want to eat “Binignit”. I also got some filipino “junk food” too.
“Binignit” ( glutinous rice porridge with coconut cream, blended with some fruits and root crops like sweet yams,bananas).Filipino junk foodCreamy Mushroom pasta I made (Rachael Ray recipe)Braised short ribs (another Rachael Ray recipe)
I also cleaned my empty candles. These are the ones I’ve gone through since September. I will not buy the small cheap ones from Target anymore because they aren’t very fragrant. It was pathetic! My favorites in the pic below are the Walmart candles (719 walnut and Better Homes), the Yankees were Okay, but nothing great. I like the Fresh Balsam (from Bath and body works) but it was too much for my husband so I only burn it when he’s not around. I burn a candle everyday, so I plan to share some of them here (I’m not a candle expert so don’t expect too much!). I just like making our house cozy and I think candles are one way I can do that:)
Candle empties for the months of September-December 2014My favorite schnauzer napping with his paposh (a common event this weekend).
Have a great week all, I’m off to hangout with my Hubs and Riley now! Talk to you soon:)
Hello 2015! Bye 2014! We had a quiet and simple NYE celebration because Zach is under the weather and still recovering. My poor Hubs rarely gets sick but when he does, he’s like bed ridden the whole time. We are hopeful that 2015 will be a healthy year for all of us. I went to the grocery store on the morning of NYE and wanted to check out some steaks (something nice to have for our NYE dinner for two) but quickly changed my mind because my Hubs is always in charge making steaks and he doesn’t have the energy for that. I ended up getting Cornish Game hens and found a simple recipe online. I will post it later this week, it’s from allrecipes.com. My DIL was kind enough to stop by during the day and bought us goodies (Ribs and cupcakes). He is that kind of person, despite his busy schedule he called us and wanted to get us something (maybe to cheer his miserable son?). He’s the best! We are looking forward to 2015. 2014 was great and we are thankful to God for all the many blessings He gave us and we cannot wait for what’s in store this coming year!
taking care of my sick Hubs and I spilled my coffee all over the kitchen floor! Oh how I need the Lord this morning:)YUM! thanks to my DIL!simple NYE dinner! we had meat and pate,crab cakes(they weren’t very good),roast cornish game hens,broccoli,cupcakes)it was so good!comfy socks are the best!NYE selfiewatched the Ball drop at Times squarewe also waited to watch the Space needle’s fireworks celebration (in bed)Hope you had a great NYE!
