Friday, September 10, 2010

Friday Foodday!

If you want to contribute to Friday Foodday in the future please comment, email, or tweet me your recipe!

Alright kids! It's a big football weekend that means hearty dips and delicious casseroles. Here are some of my favorites and some of my favorite readers recipes!

For me, football means cheese, salsa, and chips not necessarily in that order. I also have a not so secret love for Velveeta. Don't judge, it's amazing. So chemicals or not this is one of my favorite football dips to serve and eat!!!

Famous Queso Dip
1 lb. (16 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 can (10 oz.) RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

Make It

Mix ingredients in 2-qt. microwaveable bowl.

Microwave on HIGH 5 min. or until VELVEETA is completely melted, stirring after 3 min.

Serve with assorted cut-up fresh vegetables, tortilla chips.


Farmhouse Chicken
c/o Annie!
  • 2 chickens, 3 1/2 pounds each
  • 3 tablespoons goose, duck fat or even bacon drippings
  • 1 head of garlic, halved
  • 1 lemon, halved
  • 1 small onion halved
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme

  • 1 handful Italian parsley
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seed, crushed in a mortar and pestal
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • Kosher salt
  1. The night before you want to cook the chickens rinse out the cavities with cold water and drain. Place the chickens on a sheet pan and place, uncovered, in the fridge.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the cavities of each bird with some fennel seed, black pepper and kosher salt. Place the birds in a roasting pan large enough to hold them comfortably. Next place half a head of garlic, half a lemon, half an onion, half the thyme and parsley into the cavity of each bird. Now rub the exterior each bird top to bottom with the goose fat. Wash and dry your hands. Season the birds evenly and on all sides with the remainder of the fennel, black pepper and salt. Tuck the wings under the bird and truss the legs with kitchen twine, Place the chickens in the oven and roast for 40 minutes and then rotate the pan 180 degrees and roast for another 35 minutes. Check them for doneness. Cook them longer if needed. Remove the chickens from the oven and at this point if you wanted you could make a pan au jus from the drippings or let them rest for 10 minutes then carve and serve.

Marbled Peanut Butter & Nutella Brownies

c/o of Autumn!

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Swirl Mixture:
1 1/2 oz dark or dark chocolate with hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon butter
1/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with non-stick foil.

In a mixing bowl, using medium speed and high speed of an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until soft. Beat in vanilla and peanut butter, then add eggs and beat just until mixed in. Scrape sides of bowl and beat in baking powder and salt, making sure they are evenly distributed; Add flour and stir until it is mixed in. Spread peanut butter batter in pan.

Make swirl mixture. Melt chocolate and butter in a small microwave-safe bowl at 50% power. Alternatively, you may use a double boiler or bowl set over a pot of barely simmer water. Remove melted chocolate from heat and stir in Nutella. Drop spoonfuls of Nutella mixture over peanut butter brownie batter and drag a knife through to make a marbled pattern.

Bake on center rack for 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the side of the pan and center seems set. Cool pan on a wire rack. When brownies hit room temperature, chill them for an hour or so. Lift from pan and cut into squares.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups of buttermilk biscuit mix (like Bisquick or Jiffy mix)
1/2 a teaspoon of garlic powder
1 to 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese.
2/3 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of butter
2 teaspoons of oregano
1 teaspoon of garlic salt

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 400.
2- Combine the biscuit mix, cheese, and garlic powder. Stir well.
3- Add the milk and stir. The mix should be thick, not sticky. You may need to use your hands to get the ingredients well combined.
4- Bake for 10 minutes of until lightly golden.
5- While baking, melt the butter in a small bowl and add the oregano and garlic salt.
6- Using a pastry brush, brush on the butter.
7- Return to the oven for about 5 minutes.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Mini Party

Tonight I will be celebrating one my friend's birthdays with a happy hour at La Tasca with a ridiculous amount of sangria. In honor of these festivities let's have a mini-party right here right now!

Also kids, don't forget to comment, email, or tweet me your recipes for Friday Foodday!

Mini-Party

The bfs best sangria mix: CHEAP red wine and sparkling lemonade. That's it! No floating seeds or piece of fruit getting stuck in your teeth. No sticky fingers or waiting for the fruit to soak up the liquid. Just amazing sangria. Try it, you'll thank me later.



Next is the tapas; not my favorite, in fact I hate tapas because I don't like sharing food and I don't like teeny plates of food. Give me a big ol' plate of anything any day. But 63 tiny plates of one piece of something. Skip it. BUT if I were to make my own tapas here's what I would do:
The Spanish Omelet
  • 6-7 medium potatoes, peeled
  • 1 whole yellow onion
  • 5-6 large eggs
  • 2-3 cups of olive oil for pan frying
  • Salt to taste
  • Lots of bacon (lots is the correct kitchen term if you were wondering)


If I wasn't feeling large and in charge this week, I would show up in this:


Modcloth, Artificer Dress, $65


Jessica Simpson, Jessica pumps, $69

Etsy.com, Decadent Delinquent Earrings, $15

Happy Thursday everybody! See you for Friday Foodday!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I went there.

This post is dedicated to those who are battling lady parts drama this week. I know that is brutally honest, but there it is, I put it out there. We all deal with it, might as well talk about it and how it relates to fashion.

So, here's to you {insert name here} working hard at your desk while your uterus feels like the dough being twisted in the window of the Auntie Anne's at the mall. Here's to you {insert name here} at the office party while your ovaries feel like they are slowly being backed over by a UPS truck. Here's to you {insert name here} for blow drying your hair even when you feel like a hot air balloon filled with bricks.

Today's post is how to hide the irritability, bloating, PMSing, cramps, etc and still look darn cute. Good luck this week ladies. Stay strong.



I find the key to looking professional while camo-ing the blimp that is your stomach during this week is a nice dress or billowy blouse. Shall we?


Banana Republic, 3/4 sleeve faux-wrap dress, $39.99

Old Navy, Cropped Toggle Cape, $34.50

The Limited, Bow Front Top, $49.90

Target, Easy Care Neck Tie Woven Dress, $24.99


I find this also helps if all else fails:


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Tie Front Blouse

Hope everyone had a great Food Friday! I continued mine into Sunday when I cooked some bacon wrapped pork chops for the bf and I. YUM.

Also a special shout out to my friend Sarah who has a big birthday today!!! Here's what I got her for her birthday:

A portrait of her pups, Kitty!

I also hope everyone enjoyed the sunshine and the long weekend. It is kind of fall now right? Well one of my favorite blouses for fall is the tie neck blouse. It's very sassy secretary meets six figure CEO. I also like its versatility because- as you should know- if I'm buying a piece its gotta work at least 2 or 3 ways. This blouse can work with pants, skirts, or under a v-neck sweater.


Speigel, Sleeveless Silk Charmeuse Tie Neck Blouse, $59

Ann Taylor Loft, Self-Tie Button Down, $44.50

Newport News, Sash-tied blouse, $14.99

Anne Klein, Floral Tie Blouse, $79

Look for prints or solids in these types of blouses, and always silk. Yes I know, not machine washable, but it looks so much more luxurious.