Pasta, Passion and Pistols

I love throwing dinner parties.  I love the planning and the prep and the part where I (hopefully) get to serve my friends something yummy.  Also, when we have company, the house gets cleaned, so that's a bonus.

This dinner is something I have been hoping to try for a long time, but needed some time to build up some courage.  I wanted to serve a small bite 'tasting' meal as a walk through of an entire day's meals.  We had breakfast, lunch, dinner (with an appetizer, salad and main course), dessert and a drink to pair with each of them.

This post is a little teaser of the meal and I'll link out to the recipes later once I get them written up.

Korean Beef Noodles

This recipe was one of my first attempts at cooking an asian-style dish at home and has become somewhat of a staple when I'm craving these flavors.  In fact, you should see the recipe card.  It is dirty and stained, a clear indication of being well loved.  The sesame oil brings an earthiness to the dish, soy and brown sugar is always a winning combination and the apple cider vinegar gives everything an extra little kick of flavor.

Fried Eggs in Bell Pepper Rings

I love Sundays.  On Sundays, Doug and I have lunch at my gramma's house with my mom, stepdad, aunt and uncle and then we go to Doug's parent's house in the evening for dinner.  It's a day full of food and family and I love it.

Mom and I share a love of eggs.  Eggs for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or for anytime of the day.  For brunch this Sunday, she made a fun, really colorful and delicious egg fried inside a bell pepper ring. 

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Soups may be my favorite thing to make in the kitchen.  With any recipe, changing the quantity of an ingredient or incorporating something new all together can add a new dimension of flavor or change a dish completely.  I love to compare and combine different recipes and then make notes of what I liked or didn't like so I can make changes for the next time I try making it.  Some of my recipes are covered in little scribbles and notes.  This method of changing ingredients in and out works particularly well for soup recipes because they're so forgiving.

Banana Bread

I like to slice bananas into cereal, pancakes and ice cream, I use them in my smoothies and I eat them plain for a snack.  When I eat them plain, I have to say I'm a little particular about their stage of ripeness.  (I can hear my dad's voice, full of sarcasm, saying "You?! Particular? Never!"  lol)

Because I am 'particular', I have become somewhat of a connoisseur of achieving ideal banana ripeness.  Here are a couple of tricks I use for banana maintenance.

Torches - Bourbon Social

"Whisky is liquid sunshine" - George Bernard Shaw

Torches Restaurant is special to me because JJ catered my wedding.  Ah, shameful wedding picture plug, but I want to share because it's so apparent how much love they put into their food.  Everything they put out was so beautiful and creative.

 

As a family, the restaurants they're running now, Torches, Smoke on the Water and The Garage, all put out food that is appealing to both the eyes and the tastebuds.  From their hosts, to the bar, to the table, I've never experienced the slightest break down in service.  They do a great job of making their food feel special and making their guests feel special as well.

For the bourbon tasting, there were ten of us.   For 'some reason' we were seated in a separate room which we had almost all to ourselves.  'Some reason' may be the fact that we're all a little loud and a little vulgar often with very little notice of who else might be within earshot.  Smart move, Torches, because this night was no exception.  The food was classy.  Our table... well, let's just say this won't be on any of our 'classiest moments' lists.  (You all keep a 'classiest moments' list, right?)  Anyway, I was laughing all night and thoroughly enjoyed both the food and the company.  Thank you, PJ, for planning this.

Osteria 166

In the past few months Osteria 166 has pervaded my life.  First, it became my parent's favorite place to eat resulting in numerous "meet us for a drink!" texts, which I happily accepted.  (Osteria carries Arrowhead Pinot, a draw for my two favorite oenophiles.)  Well, a drink turns into drinks and drinks turns into dinner and I think now between all of us, we've probably consumed the majority of the menu... in multiple.

Steak and Mushroom Fettuccine with Poached Egg

February 24, 2014

If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be eggs.  I like eggs all ways, but I love them with a perfectly gooey, runny, bright orange yolk.

I have made poached eggs more times than I can count, but I've achieved a perfect poach only a handful of times.  I wish I could get it exactly right every time!