Karla and Troy

                                                                                          Karla and Troy

Wow, I didn't know I was catering the wedding of a princess and her prince charming, but looking at this picture (Joshua Gray Photography) it must have been a fairytale!  Thank you for letting me be a part of your special day!  Karla and Troy's guests enjoyed an evening reception with a complete sit down dinner.  Their menu begain with warm breadsticks with a trio of dipping sauces; spicy marinara, creamy pesto and rich alfredo.  The guests served themselves "family" style ceasar salad and were then served their dinner plates of Chicken Parmesan with a roasted red pepper sauce over pasta.  Karla's favorite brown sugar glazed carrots completed the plate, (I think that girl has a sweet tooth!). 

chelsea and hans wedding

what a special celebration!  It was a joy to be a part of Chelsea and Hans special day, loved their theme, "the written word".  Their guests were treated to a yummy bbq with lots of delicious salads and amazing homemade cupcakes in a variety of flavors.

Spring!!!

Today has the feel of Spring in the air!  Seeing fresh asparagas at the grocery story is also a harbringer of Spring for me.  Tonight we will celebrate this first breath of Spring with grilled asparagus and salmon, light and delish!

One Pot...three meals!

Today I made a big pot of Bolognese Sauce.  This sauce freezes really well so I made enough for tonight's pasta and had 2 more meals worth to freeze.  I love this delicious sauce, it is packed with vegies and full of flavor.  The recipe is my adaptation of Jamie Oliver's Bolognese from Jamie's Food Revolution. 

We enjoyed the bolognese over whole wheat spaghetti, garnished with Italian Parsley and shaved Parmesan cheese.

To go with the Pasta we had a green salad, topped with diced red peppers, Greek olives, marinated artichoke hearts and pistachio nuts.  I mixed up a quick Balsamic Dressing to toss the salad in.

How Dinner Stacks Up

Well, I spent the morning without water and the afternoon without any power so the logical conclusion for dinner is....leftovers of course.  Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who is happy to have a mixed-up meal like this one was.  I have to admit I always enjoy when the power is off, it's a great excuse to slow down and enjoy a truly quiet house, no computer fans running, the washer and dryer silenced, not even the refrigerate humming in the kitchen...awww, quiet!   

Soup to Share

Tonight I had the joy of cooking for our dear neighbors;  Bjorn, Jenny, sweet 2 year old Ada Lynn and their newest addition Ruby Jean (3 weeks old).  My dinner plan was for something simple tonight after a weekend that included 3 celebrations with family and friends (check out Around My Table page)  I decided to make a big pot of Shelly Bean Soup and serve it with warm bread.  Because I was also going to share the meal I decided to make Apple-Cranberry Crisp with a Warm Whiskey Sauce.  It all turned out really yummy and I'm hoping the neighbors thought the same.

Pizza Night

We have a long standing tradition in our house that Friday night is Pizza night.  When the kids are home they know that they can always invite friends over on Friday, if we end up with too many extra mouths to feed we can always pick up an extra "hot and ready"!  I try to make homemade pizza as often as I can.  Tonight it was just the husband and me so we have over half a pizza to heat up for lunch tomorrow!

Craving Heat

It is absolutely freezing in Greenwood, the wind is howling and the temperature just keeps going down.  So I decided to cook up some heat with a Mexican Stir Fry for dinner tonight!  I have to admit I was doing some big time multitasking as I prepared dinner tonight, as a result the black beans may have had a bit of a smoky taste, blackened black beans!  And husband did have to scrape the bottom of the rice pan for his second helping (the rice didn't actually burn but close to it) but the point is, he wanted a second helping!  I love making really fresh and healthy Mexican food, all those wonderful South of the Border flavors without all the heaviness of restaurant Mexican.  The mangos were so sweet and refreshing, I think we will have mangos on our oatmeal in the morning!

One night-Two meals

Last night I had the privilege of cooking a meal for a friend from church whose husband is in an epic fight against cancer.  Because they are vegetarians I adapted my Roasted Pepper Lasagna recipe to a Vegetarian Roasted Pepper Lasagna, hopefully it came out okay.  I didn't want to make the Lasagna for family because we are going to be having company this weekend and that Lasagna is on the menu, but the smell of those roasting peppers was hard to resist so I came up with a recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Pasta that husband and I really enjoyed!  Because it was just the two of us I took the easy way out and claimed the peppers and tomatoes in the pasta sauce as our vegie.  It was a yummy meal and a slice of homemade artisan bread was a great accompaniment.

What's for dinner?  Tonight we enjoyed a hot and satisfying bowl of white bean soup, made from beans that were grown in our garden, picked, shucked and dried, can't take these beans for granted!  Because of the time I already had invested in these beans I made sure they didn't get stuck to the bottom of my soup pan!  Of course dried white beans from the store would work just as well, although I think these did taste extra good because of all the work we knew went in to filling that half gallon jar!  We also enjoyed fresh baked corn muffins and a delish tropical fruit salad ( a wink to wishing for a warm tropical beach on this chilly February evening).