Fiesta Dip

For those of you who have been around for a long time, you know I love LOVE this "salsa" "dip" "salad topper" whatever! It has become my hands down go to recipe for any type of gathering. I have yet to meet a person who hasn't loved it.

It's amusing at least one person at every event comes up to me and says "I don't like (raw onions/ beans/ peppers) but I love this stuff!!"

As I mentioned yesterday, it was Walton's 1st birthday!! I was able to grab a last minute crazy flight deal down to DC to take part in the festivities!! It was wonderful to see my family and how much Walton has grown since I last saw him. I also got to tag along with my sister and Stockton to a photoshoot friends of theirs gifted them.


These image were taken by Cynthia Sambro-Rier Photography. She was a pleasure to work with, if you live in the DC area and want pictures of your kids... give her a call :) (images taken from her blog and facebook page).

How cute is that little boy!!!

OK back to the Fiesta Dip!


Seriously, make this the day before any gathering, let it marinate over night, drain the morning of, and you are good to go! We normally serve it with Tostitos scoops, but it can work with any kind of chip or it is delicious over a salad.

Fiesta Dip
1 can black eyed peas
1 can shoe peg corn
1 red pepper diced (I used 1/2 a red and 1/2 an orange since we had it on hand)
1 green pepper diced
1 red onion diced

Rinse and drain peas corn

Add: 2 tbs Tiger Sauce (secret ingredient) a MUST (it's near the ketchup in Wegmans... if you have Wegmans near you)
3/4 cup white sugar (I used a little less)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 veg oil (I used about 3 Tbs instead of 4 Tbs also I've used olive oil when I didn't have vegetable oil on hand)

Mix and let stand (refrigerated) overnight.

Drain liquid before serving.
Serve with tostito scoops or other veggies or cucumber slices for dipping.
This also works great as a salad topper/dressing. Delicious!

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The cutest lion

Walton (my nephew) turned 1 last week!! How exciting is that?? He's getting huge, walking around like mad, and eating everything in site (I'm so proud of him). I had to wait to post these so I didn't ruin the surprise of what I made him!

Meet Mr. Lion - dance lion dance!!!


and Mr. Monster. A-freaking-DORABLE


Mr Lion came from a book my roommate bought... the monster started as the alligator pattern from that same book... until I decided I no longer wanted to make an alligator... hence Mr Monster!

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Foodbuzz 24 24 24: Gelato 24 ways

Have I mentioned how much I love Foodbuzz and their monthly 24 24 24 event... L O V E it!!! The wonderful people there along with Visa Signature card have let me do it again and host a Gelato 24 ways tasting!! (actually it was gelato 20 ways... they only had 20 flavors that night whoops!) Either way we were all going to get together at Mona Lisa Cafe to get our gelato on!

See the guys hanging out in front... they totally harassed me about taking their picture LOL (they were joking)! So that guy to the left owns It's a Guy Thing across the street, so here's your shout out! You better leave me a comment so I know you saw this!! :D

Mona Lisa Cafe is out in Webster NY (basically a suburb to the east of Rochester). My one friend asked me "how the he!! did you ever find this place?" It's true, it's not the most convenient place for me to travel to... but OH MAN IS IT WORTH IT!!!!

I first learned of Mona Lisa Cafe soon after it opened (May 2008) and it was the gelato that drew me there! You see, growing up in norther NJ, we had a lot of gelato around... then I moved up here and *POOF* no more gelato... it's a very sad story if you ask me! So when I heard a little cafe offering TWENTY-FOUR kinds of gelato had opened, I knew I had to go! (and PS to all those Rochester folk saying "what are you talking about there is a gelato place on park ave" yeahhh... I don't know about you.. but I tried it... and it didn't taste like gealto to me... more like normal ice cream... no thanks!)

Angie was our hostess with the mostest while we were there!!! She ROCKED!!!! She's one of the owners and was over the top wonderful to us! She set us up for the tasting and told us all about the favorite flavors of customers and how they come up with some of the crazy flavors... like this one:


Cotton Candy- seriously... it tasted just like the stuff, in gelato form... no weird chemically taste either, just instant memories of being a little kid with a face covered in sticky cotton candy glue.

Another reason I love gelato... it's only made with 4% milk fat... ice cream is made with anywhere from 20-30% milk fat. AKA gelato is a less fattening option (HELL YEAH!!!) Here are some other interesting gelato facts (click the image to make it larger).


The owners of Mona Lisa Cafe bought their gelato machine straight from Italy and a cute little Italian man taught them all the secrets, along with his recipes! He still shows up when he has new recipe ideas (popcorn was the last one before cotton candy!!). Believe it or not, Angie said it was a hit!!!

As for the flavor that was our number 1 that night for my crew: (drum roll please)


Amaretto!!!! My mom was so jealous that they had it and she wasn't there to have some. The place by us in NJ never carries Amaretto anymore for some reason... boo to them and WOOHOO to Mona Lisa Cafe!!

The second runner up was peanut butter! Man it was SO GOOD!!!!

An important note about eating gelato if you are under the age of 3... always use two spoons and wear a bib :)


Wondering what the other flavors were?? (Scroll over the image to see the flavor)



OH and if you are still hungry after eating to your eyeballs in gelato... they have a full menu of panini's, salads, and a HUGE selection of Italian cookies and cakes :) They will also happily accommodate larger groups. Just give them a call and they will get you all set up!

Is anyone else feeling like they just gained 5 lbs?? So tell me, which flavor do you think you'd like the best??

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Banana Cinnamon Pancakes

This is one of those recipes you see on a blog and make within a day... I first found this on For the Love of Cooking. LOVE her blog, she rocks out! If you haven't been over there yet, go go go! But please come back... I want to still see you here too please!

I only made some slight changes as indicated in the recipe below. I know I know... some of you don't like bananas... or are allergic... so to you, I say sub the banana for some pumpkin puree!!! MMMMMM pumpkin pancakes... yes, yes I will be making those soon for sure!!

so you might notice that weird tiny circle pattern all over my pancakes... it's the pan... it's one of the calphalon ones that looks wicked weird, but works like a champ!

Cinnamon Banana Pancakes:
Recipe by For the Love of Cooking.net
Adapted from Cooking Light August 2009

1 cup of whole wheat flour (she used 1/2 wwf & 1/2 APF)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup vanilla fat free yogurt
1 tbsp butter, melted (she used 2)
2 tsp cinnamon (she used 1)
1/8 tsp fresh nutmeg, grated
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large banana, smashed


Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, stirring well to combine. Combine yogurt butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, eggs and mashed banana in a small bowl, mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture to the yogurt mixture, stirring until smooth.

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or skillet. Cook 2 minutes or until the tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 2 more minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Top with freshly sliced banana and maple syrup. Enjoy.

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CC cookies

I wanted to mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookies for a friend's wife who is having some back issues... enter in these cookies. YUM.


These have 4 Tbs of butter in them, that's nothing in the cookie world. It's just enough to give them that satisfying crispy edge, but not so much that there is a layer of grease left behind.

While I was beating the brown sugar and butter together, John came out and with one look said "those don't look like they are for me..."
"nope, not for you... but don't worry I'll make you some more pumpkin donuts next :) now go watch football and get out of my way...." :D

aren't I a sweetie?? Football season means more time to bake if you ask me :D

NOTE: If you try to take these off the baking mat too soon they crumble all over the place... so let them cool a bit so they harden up :)


Chocolate Chip cookies... with some butter... but not a ton.

whisk together
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats (pulverized in a food processor)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup splenda

in a separate bowl beat:
4 Tbs butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup brown sugar

then beat in
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs skim milk
mixture looks a little scary at this point.. no worries though!

Add dry to wet

Mix in 1 cup chocolate chips

Drop 1 inch balls onto a baking mat (these spread so give them 2 inches in between each of them). Bake at 350 for 12-ish minutes or until done.

CHOW!

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Pumpkin Donuts

Things I learned making these:
Me and pipping bags = total incredible mess
I can never find the pipping bag tips when I need them = even larger mess
It's more fun to make blobby shapes instead of perfectly smooth circles

John loved these things, I think he ate 4 in a row, no joke. I'm going to try to make them in cake form... just pour all the batter into a large pan and bake them that way... then use a cookie cutter and make fun shapes! Sounds fun huh! And no pipping bag required :D Let me tell you the truth though... they don't really taste like donuts... more just like pumpkin bread... either way... TASTY!


Fat free Pumpkin Donuts
Adapted from here

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (3/4 tsp cinnamon + 1/4 tsp cloves + 1/4 tsp ginger + 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
dash salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Icing
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
4-5 teaspoons milk

Directions
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice (or individual spices), salt, and baking soda.

Add pumpkin, eggs, milk; beat with an electric mixer on low speed till mixed. (kinda weird and made a flour cloudy mess... I'll probably do this in a separate bowl next time, then add it)

Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with a 1/2-inch opening.

Pipe onto 2 greased baking sheets in 3-inch circles.

Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F oven for 10- 12 minutes, or till golden brown.

Cool donuts on a rack.

FOR ICING: In a small mixing bowl stir together powdered sugar and vanilla.
Stir in enough milk to make a smooth icing of glazing consistency.
place rack with donuts over waxed paper.
Brush icing over donuts with pastry brush, or spoon over surface.

Or toss the warm donuts in a bag with some powdered sugar to cover... serve soon, otherwise they just absorb the sugar haha... the next morning they were no longer white.

Nutritional facts are without any toppings

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And the winner is...

Chosen by random.org the winner is:

Missy of Missy Maintains!

Missy you are now the proud owner of a square plate just like mine... except it will say the statement you picked "Missy Maintains" Congratulations!!! Please email me at stephchows (at) gmail.com with your address!

Thanks everyone for entering! If you didn't win head on over to Custom Sepia and order something up for yourself anyway :) Come on, you know you want to! And really now, you deserve it!

Just look at all the options...





Thank you Janet for giving me the opportunity to share your work with all my lovely readers!!


PS> if you didn't win go check out this other amazing giveaway!
Unbelievable Bonbon Oiseau One-Week Only Fall Sale--30% off on the entire Le Cirque aux Papillon and Prairie Collections, now until next Friday, September 25th.

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BELT Salad

MMmmm belt salad... doesn't that sound so not appetizing?! Ok maybe not... but it makes sense... BELT: Bacon Egg Lettuce Tomato! YUM! I love BLT sandwiches, and I love bacon and eggs, why not smash them together? I love how you add the egg on top and use the yolk almost as a salad dressing, so fancy.

So I had bacon leftover from those delicious cupcakes I made, so I've been eating a few slices every other day... don't give me that look, you know I'm all about everything in moderation, it's not like I sat down and ate the whole pound of it in one sitting... that would have hurt the next day!

OK easy cheese, toss together some baby spinach, or other greens, chop up a nice fresh red tomato, fry up some bacon and crumble it up, then fry and egg and gently place it on top.

Simple, fast, surprisingly filling (and I don't say that often!)

PS. Bacon causes some serious splatter patterns on the stove top... be a sweetie and make sure you clean it all up... otherwise you might drive your roomie nutzo! :D sorry steph!!

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I need your vote!

OK everyone it's time to go vote on your favorite banana themed cupcake over HERE!

How exciting! Look at all those great concoctions!!!

Remember I entered this one:

PBBB cupcakes AKA Peanut Butter Bacon & Banana Cupcakes

*drool*

OK go vote now! :D

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Easy as 1 2 3

So you guys know that I'm a big dork right? Yeah like it's a big secret or something... this chick here (pointing at myself)... she's a DORK!! I was talking with Jeanne the other day.... ok by talking I mean emailing... John goes nuts when I say "I was talking to so and so" he always responds...
"oh really, you were on the phone??"
(he knows I don't like talking on the phone)
"umm no I mean I was ichatting, or emailing"
"that's not talking..."

So you tell me dear readers... is ichatting and emailing talking ... or is talking only on the phone or in person???

OK that was totally not where I was heading with this post... back to me being a dork and talking with Jeanne. I was telling her about this AMAZING vest I made, and that it only took 5 minutes to make... and you make it out of a tshirt... yes I'm realizing how fanasticly awful this is sounding.. but stay with me.

Her response: "The vest sounds... interesting. Based on your description, I feel like it's one of those things that could go either way. It could be freaking cool or a Gr3 art class project. Not that you can't make cool things when you are in Gr3.... Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing the post."

So Jeanne... this one is for you!! No grade 3 art project here! 3 steps and all you need is a old large t-shirt (hint: go into your husbands closet and steal one). It can have an image on it for added flare, or it can be a straight up blank one like I used here.

Slice your tshirt straight across right under the arm pits (lay flat on a table and cut through both layers). If using hubbies shirt.. make sure to cut below any nasty pit stains ;) (Warning: do not cut shirt while still wearing it!) You will now have a tube...next slice it up the side. Your tube will now be a long rectangle. (you don't use the top half of the shirt you cut off)



Lay your rectangle of fabric flat and then slice a straight line in the center as shown below... the length will depend on how wide your back is. I cut my hole to be around 18-19 inches. Remember this is tshirt material... so it may stretch out some, so error on the small side (you can always cut it a little bigger)

OK you're done! Put it on and go out on the town looking super cute! The edges will be unfinished and roll a bit, if you are feeling spunky you can use a serger sewing machine to finish the edges... I say screw it, it's adorable as is! (both arms go through the hole you cut in step 2, the thin part on the top is what wraps around the back of your neck)

So the idea for this came from a friends blog post (thanks Vanessa!)... and she got the idea from here(scroll to bottom of post). The making it out of a tshirt was my random idea... since I'm a dork... See, we've come full circle!




PS don't forget about the giveaway!!
You have until Sunday the 20th to enter!

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Pistachio Muffins

Pistachio muffins are one of those things I have a soft spot for... although I am a bit picky, I don't like the kind with big chunks of nuts... same goes for pistachio ice cream. I don't know what it is, but I'd rather just have a smooth bite... no extra chunks hanging out!


This wasn't too much of an issue when I made these, since I realized all too late that I didn't really have enough pistachios to grind up. How good do these guys look all ground up in my hand dandy coffee grinder??


I'd give you the recipe... because I know they look so freakin good... but the truth is they were only ehh... they needed more pistachios... and I didn't have any... yet I still made them and went tweaking my already tweaked on paper recipe. Don't worry though... my love of pistachio muffins will have me making these again for sure!




PS don't forget about the giveaway!!
You have until Sunday the 20th to enter!

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