Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Leftovers!!

One of the great things about growing up in the McDermott house is that you could watch Ellie create a terrific meal out of whatever was leftover in the fridge. Remember the garbage soup!!!! Anyway I had some leftover marinated mozzarella from the Swap Party and wondered what am I going to do with this. Now mind you I have been nibbling on them at night - but to eat all of it by myself. That's just too much. So when you think mozzarella you think italian - pasta. So I started there. I cooked up some whole wheat pasta and smothered it with leftover sauce. Then I added the leftover mozzarella, some white wine and parmasen cheese. Mix the whole thing together put it in a baking dish and topped it with more cheese. The more cheese the better it tastes.



I gotta say it tasted pretty good. So thanks Mom for showing us what to do with all the leftovers in the fridge.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Pics from Swap Party

Here are a few of the few of the pics from the party. There are more pics on facebook - check it out and become a fan!!! What did you all do with your stuff? Thanks Brenda!! We had a great time and look forward to the next one. Any ideas of what you girls what for a theme - let me know. And let me know what you did with your stuff.






Can you guess who brought the label maker!! I think she ended up taking it home too - no one is as organized that my wonderful sister Brenda!!!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Swap Party Results

So the swap party was a lot of fun. We all brought a few things to swap with others-except Brenda - how many things did she bring?

So we started out by eating - of course. The biggest hits of the night were the stuffed mushrooms, the stuffed cherry tomatoes and the marinated mozzarella! The skewers were okay (we have beef, chicken, pork and shrimp) but I don't care how long you soak bamboo skewers in water they still catch on fire on the grill!! Once we sampled everything we started the swap - Sharon was first, then me, then Danielle, then Brenda and last was Colleen!! And Brenda was so happy about the things she got that she left her camera at my place! Score for me - thanks for the great swap Brenda!! Lol - I'm returning it to her!

Keep watching for the next party and date!!!

In the meantime here are the recipes for the favorites! Brenda and I are having a bit of trouble with the pics but will straighten it out soon and I'll post some pics for you all to see - hopefully by tomorrow!

Italian Marinated Mozzarella
(this is from thatsmyhome.com)
1 c. olive oil
1 glove garlic, thinly sliced
12 black peppercorns
3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch of red pepper flakes
12 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut in 1-inch cubes.

Warm olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, salt and red pepper flakes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Remove the rosemary sprigs. Pour the oil over mozzarella.

Let stand at room temperature for several hours or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days. If refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving.

Serves 6 to 8 as an appetizer.

Bacon Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes
(from busycooks.about.com)

2 pints cherry tomatoes
3/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (not packaged)
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
16 oz. pkg. bacon, crisply cooked, drained and crumbled

Cut the top off each cherry tomato, and using a melon baller or a sharp knife, carefully scoop out the seeds and pulps. Place each tomato upside down on paper towels to drain.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Stuff each cherry tomato with the bacon mixture. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours to blend flavors. To serve, I like to line the serving tray with parsley to keep the little tomatoes from rolling around. It's very pretty too. You need to use curly parsley to keep them upright - lettuce won't do the trick.

Serves 8

Triple Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
(from Paula Deen)

48 med. white mushrooms (2 lbs.)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. finely chopped green onions
salt
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using damp paper towels, wipe mushroom caps clean; remove and discard stems, or save for another use. In colander, squeeze liquid out of spinach until dry.

In large bowl, mix spinach, feta, cream cheese, green onions and 1/2 tsp. salt until well combined. Fill each mushroom with heaping teaspoon spinach mixture; top with Parmesan.

Transfer to 15 1/2" to 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan; bake 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling is golden brown.

You should try making these wonderful little treats yourself. Have a great cooking day!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Today's the Day!!

So today's the swap party. Hope you have your items all ready to swap and your 3x5 cards filled out. Here's a pic of the ingredients I'll be using today to give you an idea of what you'll be eating tonight. As always, these are recipes that I have never made before and some are just some random thoughts of things to try on my own. Can't wait to see all of you. Have to go now - gotta get things marinading!!!


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What's for Dinner?

So tonight I tried a new recipe (which I often do to my family) - Cajun Chicken Pasta. I got the recipe from a blog I read regularly - The Pioneer Woman - you should check it out sometime. Anyway back to my favorite subject - FOOD and COOKING!! Let's start from the beginning!




Cut up the chicken into cubes. Easy enough!!



Cut up the Roma tomatoes! Again still pretty simple.




Cut up the peppers and onions! And the garlic - think I have enough on the top!!!




I wish you could smell this!!! The Cajun spices are roaring on this chicken!



Once I put the veggies in the pan and that garlic started cooking - oooo mama!!




Now for the sauce - deglaze the pan and add cream!! Does it get much better than this - Oh yea it does - now the pasta!!!



Oh la la!!! As for me and hubby - we'd like more spice - a lot more spice but the overall flavor was delicious.

On a side note, this recipe is not for the faint of heart - as with most recipes from The Pioneer Woman - she uses butter and cream (yes even heavy cream). But if you feel like treating yourself to something a little decadent then you should definitely try this. What did you have for dinner? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

What's Mine is Yours and What's Yours is Mine!!




It's time for a new party girls and since its spring cleaning time I though I would encourage you to do so!! Clean out your closets and your drawers. Let's do some swapping!! Here's the deal - you bring things to the party that you don't want anymore but just can't throw away. Then you exchange your stuff for someone else's stuff! If you bring 1 item you go home with 1 item; if you bring 10 items you go home with 10 items or at least no more than 10 items (you can go home with less if you want). We'll put a limit on the items - no more than 10 please and no moving trucks in my driveway!!!! You can bring anything you want from candles, jewelry, pots and pans to small pieces of furniture - just make sure its something you can part with and nothing that I gave you for Christmas last year!! We'll stay away from clothing since we certainly have a wide range of sizes!! LOL - I will never fit into Brenda's stuff - love ya, honey!

You must also write (on a 3x5 card) a brief description of your item. Be creative - make it appealing - after all you are trying to get rid of it!

We'll meet at my place on Saturday, April 24 at 7:00 p.m. I will, of course, provide some new and interesting snacks for us to try. I'll have water to drink but if you prefer something else - bring that with you. Can't wait guinea piggers! So start cleaning out! Let me know if you can be here - post a comment or send me an email.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Who's Who?

So I added a pic for you all to see. This is our original group and this was taken at our Chocolate Party!! Remember that girls? So let me introduce the girls (clockwise) - Louise, Colleen, the next girl I don't remember her name - she came with Danielle one time and haven't seen her since, me, Brenda, Mom (Ellie) Danielle and Sharon. This is my family. They are willing to put with me, come to my parties and try different types of food. Gotta love guinea pigs!! Anyway just wanted you to meet all us. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.