Prepping for Foodbuzz 24x24 Dinner

We have a special dinner happening at our house this evening, so last night was all about prep work ... and as I am sure you are well aware, prep work is much more fun with wine!

 

This was a very smooth, reasonably priced (approx. $22) bottle of wine.  

I drank some, but I also shared ...

 

With my friends double chocolate cookies!  

I haven't tried one yet, but if they are as good as the chocolate cake I made with wine, then I will be hooked.

 

There were other things being made in my kitchen last night ...

 

 

 

 

 

Check out my post tomorrow to see my full recap of my Foodbuzz 24x24 dinner!

What are you up to tonight?

Thursday Things

1) I hate making salad.  Usually I suck it up and painstakingly wash lettuce.  Today picked up a pre-made salad from Costco and it made me very happy.



2) I took a break tonight from reading articles and brushing up on my statistics.  I needed a TV fix and American Idol was the drug of choice. It's nowhere near as good as The X Factor, but it'll do.

3) Speaking of X Factor there are some auditions I still watch over and over and over and over.  Love.

4) I don't usually like Nutella, but it is fantastic in oatmeal.  Make the oatmeal with coffee and toss on some coconut and you have Coconut Hazelnut Mocha Oats!



5) Now this is my kind of cupcake! 

6) Hmmm, not too sure about these ... Bahh, who am I kidding!? I will probably make these next week.

What are some of your Thursday things?

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Good Eats and Exciting News

My eats today have been deeeeeelish!  Breakfast was a toasted tomato sandwich, which is one of my all-time faves.  

I am loving the new organic, sprouted grain bread that Costco carries.  It is vegan, and free of GMOs and preservatives.  It also has six grams of protein per slice.  It is not as soft as some breads, but it is nutty and satisfying.

Lunch was a leftover brown rice and garbanzo bean dish (with coconut milk, ginger, spicy peanut butter, water chestnuts, pineapple and green pepper) adapted from this dish.

Believe it or not we fired up the BBQ this evening!  It has warmed up (still below zero though) and we took advantage of the sun.  We had burgers with salad.  I have recently discovered that salad is soooo much better with onions.  

Exciting news!   Each month Foodbuzz holds a contest for its featured publishers called 24x24.  In order to enter the contest a Featured Publisher needs to create a proposal for a unique meal that they will create, capture and post about. The winners are given $250 to help make the proposal happen.  I recently found out that my proposal was selected, and I will be participating in this on Saturday!   

Stay tuned to see what my proposal was and how the dinner goes!  I was chosen for this once before for my dinner idea - "A Little Feast on the Prairies" which you can check out here.

Do you put onions on salad?  

Would you fire up the BBQ in temperatures below 0?

Working on the Weekend

I spent most of the weekend at the university researching and writing for my thesis.  Surprisingly it wasn't too painful.  Last night I was able to get out for a friend's bridal shower and a bit of dancing!  

Went to the in-laws for dinner this evening and they had made a turkey dinner :-)  Great way to end off a weekend of hard work and productivity.  I will be doing more thesis work this week, but I also have something fun coming up this weekend that I must plan for ...

I usually do my school work at home, but I have recently realized that I dread it less when I leave the house to work.  It allows me to think of time at home as my time to do whatever I want, and time away from home as "work time."  

Do you do work, or school work at home?

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Mine was definitely the dancing and catching up with friends!

 

Neeeeeeed Sleeeeeeeep!

I haven't slept well all week.  Brutal.  

Luckily my eats have been pretty yummy ...

Cranberry Coconut Oats

Veggie Pita Pizza

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Basmati rice and a mixture of cilantro, tomato, lime and jalapeno

I had some chamomile tea and am now going to read a chapter of fiction hoping it takes my mind into dreamland and helps me to fall asleep. 

What kinds of things do you do to get yourself to sleep when you are having trouble?

What are your plans for the weekend?

Love Notes

My husband wakes up earlier than me (not like that's difficult), and often leaves me notes, such as "Don't forget the treats for your students", or "Please start the dishwasher."  

These are always left in the kitchen, where I am sure to see them. 
On the coffee pot usually.  

Today my note was left on another well-loved appliance.  

(Funny, he never seems to leave me notes on the iron ...)

 

In case you can't read the hubby's chicken scratch, or cannot believe your eyes, the note does in fact say:

"It's really cold out today.  -27 and -39 with the wind.  Love ya."  

This temperature means the same thing in Celsius or Fahrenheit = BLOODY FRIGID.  The only saving grace was that we had this soup cooking in the slow cooker to make for a comforting evening meal.

Please tell me it is warmer where you are!

Dinner with Friends

Yesterday I spent the day baking and prepping food for dinner, which included chopping up a variety of citrus fruits that I would be using in a salad.

Some good friends came over for dinner and a visit. 

We started with prosciutto wrapped bread sticks (some with a fig dip and others with cranberry Boursin cheese) and jalapeno poppers because I was totally craving them :-)

Next was a citrus salad with feta and mint.

The 3rd course was fire-pot soup. This was spicy, but not too spicy, with a delicious curry coconut milk broth.

The main course was citrus crusted tilapia, lemon risotto, beets with carrots, and asparagus.

Dessert included lemon crinkle cookies, and a dense, very moist, red wine chocolate cake.

 

How was your weekend?

When was the last time you had dinner with friends?