Let The Holidays begin!

I love October the air begins to cool down. ( here in FL that means 85) and the stores begin there holiday push. I love to wander through Target and see all the Halloween decorations. You just start to get that homey feeling, the anticipation of all the good food just around the corner. The cooler air makes me want to bake or put a big pot of all day stew in the oven. I guess its our way of getting ready for the long winter hibernation.

maybe one reason we laughed so hard
Vampire Kiss Martini

Our first "Girls Night Out" here at Dinner In A Pinch was a huge hit last night, we ate and drank and laughed so hard.

and maybe the second reason
Cotton Candy Martini

Oreo Truffle Lollipops

Tiramisu Bites

But seriously, we had an awesome time, ate some great food and made some new friends. Isn't that what life is all about

Summer All Year Round!

I spent the weekend hunting down bargains on fresh herbs. Between my garden, the farmers market and some local flea markets (a great resource for fresh produce) I managed to gather a nice variety of fresh things. This time of year when these warm weather crops are beginning to wane farmers are looking to unload this stuff fast, and you can take advantage of this. I found a way to capture the fresh taste all year round and I would love to share it with you.
This works for most fresh herbs. I have never tried it with Rosemary because I'm lucky enough to have that in my garden all year, but we will give it a try. I also did Basil and Parsley. The basic rules apply, pick fresh clean herbs, wash in a big bowl of cold water. Lift the herbs out of the water so the dirt falls to the bottom. The rest goes like this,

Pull the leaves off the stems and discard stems

add the leaves and about a half cup of water to your blender

pulse until all is blended as fine or course as you like

pour into ice cube trays and freeze

after a day or so dump cubes to

store in zipper bags

and label, they last for 6 months in your freezer



MY LUNCH

you can add them to soups, stews and sauces. I put a cube of basil in my lunch today. 
I just cut up and onion and some garlic and sauteed it in olive oil. Then I cut up 2 med zucchini and added those to the pot with some crushed red pepper salt and pepper and some dried Italian seasoning. I added in a can of diced tomatoes, covered and simmered for around 20 min. at the end I through in the basil cube. I always add the fresh herbs at the end to get the most out of the flavor and to keep them from darkening.



Girls Night Out!!

Tuesday night is "Girls Night Out" here at Dinner In A Pinch. This month we are doing Drinks and Dessert! Lots of Chocolate and lots of fun drinks. I can't say to much I have lots of surprises for the girls. We have two spots left, so give me a call if you want in.
Here is a sneak peak at one of the recipes we will be doing.

Sure to be a huge hit.

Here is the schedule for the rest of this Month

October

Tuesday Oct. 12, 7pm Girls Night Out

Saturday Oct. 16, 10am Game Day Goodies (for the guys and girls)

Satureday Oct.16 3pm The Perfect Roast Chicken

Thursday Oct. 21 7pm On The Way Home Orange Glazed Chicken

Thursday Oct. 28 "Chicken Nuggets" and "Mac & Cheese" (healthy, not frozen)

call me at 941-276-1581

or follow me on facebook, Barbaa Price Louttit

Comfort and warmth

So when the weather turns cool I turn to Scalloped Potatoes!! I can't help it, if that's my worst character flaw, I'll take it!
Last nights class was great, and we got to eat some really good food. We made Peach Glazed Ham that turned a "ham hater" into a ham lover! some yummy warm gooey Scalloped Potatoes, and I must say the best fresh Green Beans with garlic and Almonds I've ever made, they turned out perfect. I think it was the shocking in ice water after steaming that did it. They were tender crisp and delicious.The Apple Cranberry Crostinis were a huge hit. The girls were coming up with there very own ideas for fillings. One of which involved chocolate of coarse! Comment me and give me your ideas for fillings.(I thought peaches and raspberries would be great)
Here are some pictures from last nights class, they all came out a little yellow, any ideas on that and I would love to hear them too.


peel some potatoes



slice or chop some onions

slice thin on a vegetable slicer or with a Mandolin



(alternating potato and onion) shingle into a pan, I first rubbed with garlic and then slathered with butter



mix hot half and half with butter,salt and pepper

Pour over, I give it a little shake to spread the mixture out

and YUMMM

Scalloped Potatoes

• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes or other waxy-style potato
• 1 med. Sweet onion
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch nutmeg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Rub the garlic around the inside of an 8 by 8 by 2-inch or 8 inch round casserole dish and let it dry. Reserve the remaining garlic. Rub the butter around the inside of the dish. Reserve the remaining butter.

Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and onion on a mandolin or vegetable slicer (about 1/8-inch-thick slices). Place sliced potatoes overlapping in the baking dish, alternate with onions and sprinkle each layer lightly with flour.

In a medium saucepan, combine the garlic, butter, half-and-half, salt, pepper to taste, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, Remove the garlic and pour over layered potato and onion. Give a little shake to disperse mixture. Cover with foil.

Place pan on a foil lined baking sheet and bake the potatoes until lightly browned and bubbly, about 45 min. Uncover for last 15-20, till a fork goes in the center with ease. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Also very good with lightly steamed Cauliflower. I and a little gated Italian blend cheese in the layers of that one. Top with some buttered bread crumbs (½ C bread crumbs mixed with 2 Tbls. melted butter) and bake about 30 min till golden brown

                                      





                                    

That was easy

Sometimes all it takes is trying! Just like with cooking, it's a lot of trial and error. (In my case more error.) So don't be afraid to try! Well I'm glad I can now share pictures with you. My husband and my 14 year old son are very talented photographers. So here it begins...

I did it I think!! A picture! well lets see if it works and then we can talk more about it.

                                                            Success!!

These are the ingredients for the Apple Cranberry Crostini everyone has been buzzin about here's the recipe

3 apples of your choice

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 Tbls. flour

1 Tbls. brown sugar

2 Tbls. very cold butter cut in little cubes

1 egg

sugar for dusting

peel and core apples,dice into 1/4 inch cubes, place in a bowl add all the remaining ingredients (except egg and dusting sugar) and toss till well combined.

Roll out pie crust and cut 6 circles using both sheet . Save the scraps for Cinnamon twists.

Place rounds of crust on parchment paper and fill with a round Tbls. of filling. Roll the edges up over the filling, (it will not cover completely, tops will be open)

Mix egg in a small bowl and brush edges with a pastry brush and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 425 for 8-10 min until golden brown and bubbly.

I love mine warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream, but that's just me I put ice cream on anything I can

Enjoy!

Oh yeah and the cinnamon twist are just the leftover scraps, cut up and rolled in equal parts cinnamon and sugar and baked right along side of the Crostinis. My son loves them.

I'm Still Here

Okay so I missed a few days, I honestly don't think anybody noticed!! I spent the morning with my girlfriend eating pancakes, drinking coffee and watching her kids grow up right before our eyes! It seems like just yesterday the baby was born, and her son is smart as a whip. I love them both so much. Is it, kids are good, or the parenting is good?? I truly think it's the latter of the two. There are no bad kids just really bad parents.
So my friend was supposed to be having company over and didn't know what to cook for them so I shared the recipe from my class today. Here it is...

Oh So Easy Pot Roast
1, 3lb.  boneless chuck roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can water (use same can)
1 packet dry french onion soup mix
3 lg. carrots peeled and cut in 2 inch lengths
4 potatoes cut in quarters
1 lg sweet onion peeled and quartered
In a small bowl, mix together the soups and water put half in the bottom of the pan, place the chuck on top of that and pour the remainder over the meat. place all the veggies around the meat salt and pepper all and cover. Bake at 325 for 3 hours