Recipes I Tried

I bookmark recipes a lot. A lot. I can't help but be in love with the pictures of the results on TasteSpotting or the blogs I have on my Google Reader and Blogger... and I kept saving them the whole month I was in Ecuador without a kitchen. So, here are two of the recipes I have been DYING to try! And I had some great results!

First, I had to recreate Publix's red pepper hummus for my boyfriend and his mom. Actually, I just knew I could make it tastier and cheaper, so I made it today. Standing ovation :) I got my recipe from gimme some oven. So delicious and just as easy as can be- puree everything in the food processor, get some pita and enjoy. Or with Ritz Crackers, because the BF's house, which always has pita chips, was out.  But I think this hummus, as with all other hummus dishes, would taste equally good with carrots and veggies.

*If you love hummus and get a chance, go check out the recipes at gimme some oven because she did a whole week's worth of different hummus recipes! All of them look delicious!

For my sister, who came home for the weekend, I pulled out my recipe I had saved for Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sugar Cooking. They are so delicious and chewy and hazelnutty. Perfect if you like Nutella! The only change I made was to use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet and it made it richer, I think.

It was a successful day in the kitchen... More to come!

Kitchen Adventures

My new friend.
After eating dinner, I realized that I spent my whole day around food. Not that I think its a bad thing :)

I went to the grocery store with my mom to start my food day, which is probably one of my favorite things to do with her. We picked up summer sausage, cheese and naan to make for lunch before I started my kitchen marathon!

I managed to whip up some sangria for my mom (white- totally convinced her that sangria was not just red and heavy!) from this recipe from the Food Network/ Cooking Channel. It was really simple, but the time was used in chopping up the fruits! My recommendation is to only use 1 apple instead of 2 because there was so much fruit in this recipe!

Then, for a snack later in the afternoon, I made some chocolate pudding. But not just any pudding, from-scratch, delicious basic pudding from Eclectic Recipes. It was so good, but I can't wait to make it again with cinnamon or nutmeg to spice it up! It is a perfect blank canvas, so let me know when you try it. Because you should!

I am missing Ecuador so much, so I made some Basil-Lime sorbet from Gimme Some Oven. Basil and lime are two of the HUGE ingredients in Ecuadorian cooking (as well as Latin America, I assume) and I miss them already in American food.

If you don't mind sorbet that looks like something Shrek would eat, blanch the basil to keep the green color. If not, you'll probably end up with a pretty sorbet like Ali's. I didn't blanch my basil, but I think the fact that my simple syrup was completely cooled when I mixed the ingredients. No pictures today because it is getting the right texture in the freezer, but I HAD to sneak a bite earlier and it was perfect! Not super sweet, a little savory, but perfect if you love basil and lime!

Here is the basil I used- some sweet basil and some of my mom's new purple basil:

Last but not least, I made dinner for my family. I wanted to recreate an awesome meal that I made two summers ago from Coastal Living. The recipe is called Shrimp and Sirloin Sizzle. The only problem was that I forgot to buy shrimp this morning, so I just doubled the amount of steak and it turned out delicious. Don't double the marinade- its really potent as it is! But we all loved it again. Definitely an easy family meal.

And now, I am just enjoying watching American TV and watching the new show on Food Network, Cupcake Wars, and its just entertaining to watch the judges. But waiting for Chopped! By far, my favorite food shows are competitions. Probably because they make me drool, but I love spending my whole day with food. Mmm...