Getting Ready for a Spanish Thanksgiving

I just bought a cazuela for our upcoming Spanish Thanksgiving (thanks to Kara and Emy and the Williams Sonoma gift card they gave me). Now I'm just trying to decide which tapas recipes to use and where I'm going to cook everything! So far all I have on the menu is paella and stuffed mussels. Can't wait to experiment!

Wedding Project

Last weekend, I became Mrs. Montgomery. It was a spectacular weekend full of good friends and family, great food, and plenty of delicious wine. A couple of days before the wedding after the majority of our family had arrived, we had a little get together at our house so that everyone could meet and relax a bit before the wedding madness began.

Since Shawn's niece was visiting as well, and I know that hanging out with a bunch of adults all weekend can get a little boring, I thought of a fun project we could do together--make a 3-layer Rice Krispie treat cake for the rehearsal dinner.

7 recipes of Rice Krispie treats later, it was complete.

The bottom layer got a nice chocolate filling

Maddy is a master at stirring marshmallows

It was difficult to find something big enough to build it on, so we flipped it out onto wax paper and my sister and I carefully slid it onto the upside tray

Almost complete...

Dark chocolate covered almonds did the trick

A little decoration

The hubby and I cutting the cake with the biggest knife known to man

Serious Slacking

I swear I'm still alive and breathing. My last post was the beginning of August and that makes me sad. I have good excuses (job changing mania, settling into the house, tests, wedding planning...), but really, there's no excuse for this long of an absence.

I have been cooking, but not as much as I'd like. Long story short, I made a big career move earlier this year and worked toward becoming a personal trainer. I studied for my test, passed it in August, and have recently decided to go back to marketing work. It's a long story, but basically, I have little to no time for anything but working these days. So, combine all that with my wedding being 3 weeks away (WOOT!)...we've been eating a lot of quick meals.

However, I do want to share some pictures of the bounty that is the garden I inherited when we moved into our new house in SE Portland. We have been enjoying delicious tomatoes from the garden at most meals. There were plenty of zucchini about a month ago...then I killed them all by letting the weeds and flowering of other plants take over. There's another reason I need to work less than 60 hours a week...

Beautiful raised beds of oregano, thyme, peas, lettuce (or what used to be lettuce), parsley, and carrots

Hang on little tomato!

Are we an heirloom? Me thinks we are.

I made at least a couple of dishes this summer. Here's proof!

Near perfect calzone--great way to use leftovers!

S'more pie (care of Smitten Kitchen) that I made for our Friday the 13th movie marathon

And a quick picture of one of our fabulous dishes from Toro Bravo. We used a gift certificate I had to celebrate Shawn's birthday last month. Of course, even with the gift certificate, we managed to go a little crazy. It was so worth it, though.

Manchego & paprika fritters with salsa roja

Sadly, I did not take a picture of the near-perfect roast chicken I made last weekend and the creamed mushrooms that accompanied them. Oh mushrooms...how I love you. I received a birthday present from my grandma (oh yeah, I also turned 30 in all that) of a cookbook put together by Seattle public television KCTS. I had a chicken and knew I wanted to roast it, so I checked my new cookbook for an accompanying dish, and lo and behold, there were the mushrooms. I ended up throwing on some sauteed bread crumbs to make it similar to the dish we had a the Gruner preview dinner (creamed mushrooms and buckwheat spaetzle topped with breadcrumbs). I'm going to say it was a hit as Michael was literally sopping up the last of the sauce with his piece of Ken's bread.

I'm hoping to post more often from now on. With fall upon us, I'll definitely be getting back to bread baking and more soups. Until then, wish me luck with the rest of wedding planning--I'm going to need it.

Vietnamese Noodles & Beef

Your long-lost food blogger has returned. This has been a crazy month or so. Besides my career change and wedding planning, we also had to move. I can honestly report that it has turned out to be a move for the better. Our new house is fabulous and is complete with a ready-made vegetable garden. I'll get to that in a future post. I have yet to take pictures of all the beautiful plants I have growing back there. We've been feasting on fresh lettuce, zucchini, and soon...tomatoes! My favorite summer treat.

For now, you'll have to be satisfied reading about the delicious, easy, and healthy Sunday dinner I made: Vietnamese-style noodles with grilled beef.

Another delicious meal provided by Mr. Webber

Needing something to do with half a package of leftover whole wheat capellini and steaks on sale at New Seasons, I ended up with this recipe from Epicurious. I ended up reducing the amount of sugar by 1 tsp., but basically kept it the same. Since we were firing up the old grill, I decided we should also make use of it and grill the bell pepper that accompanies the noodles, as well as some onion. It made a delicious accompaniment. In the end, I wish I had reduced the amount of mint a bit, as well, but it was delicious even with that. Very refreshing and, minus the rather hefty sodium content that is expected with many Asian cuisines, a pretty healthy meal.

Last Webster Meal

Tonight's menu: grilled chicken with a spicy Asian glaze, corn on the cob, and grilled zucchini. A delicious way to end an era at the Webster house. On to new adventures in SE!

Spicy Asian Glaze (adjusted for 2 servings)
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/8 cup ketchup
2 T honey
1 T lemon juice
1 T Hoisin sauce
1-2 t Rooster sauce (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 t fresh grated ginger
1 minced garlic clove

Coat meat about 5 minutes before done cooking.

Stacey's Fallen Chocolate Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday Stacey!

Fallen chocolate cake from the Test Kitchen's cookbook, served with homemade whipped cream (lightly flavored with powdered sugar, vanilla, and Chambord) and fresh raspberries from the Farmer's Market.

Date Night: Tostadas

Saturday night, Shawn and I had a very much-needed quiet night in for just the two of us. Since we were watching a movie, I wanted to make something fun to eat and create. I was going to make pizza, but we just had our end-of-boot-camp pizza party two nights prior at Mississippi Pizza (see past review of pizza places in Portland), so that wasn't going to happen. What else could be fun to make and eat? Tostadas, of course. A close relative of the taco, but flat and fun to pile, the tostada seemed like the perfect choice, especially after a morning trip to the Hollywood Farmers Market.

I cheated and bought a can of Bearito's refried beans. Since discovering the ease and less-greasy taste of baking the tostada shells, I've been a convert. They turn out just as crisp and delicious and require much less oil, and consequently oil burns. We topped with ground beef with a homemade taco seasoning, and lots of veggies. Overall, it was a pretty healthy meal...and even more importantly, an extremely satisfying one.

Lots of color!

Close up of all the good stuff.